Hanna Dimitri
Hanna, 1944 Majdanek, Poland
Hanna was eleven years old when she was registered at the Roma section of Auschwitz-Birkenau in the spring of 1943. Her little sister Anita, who was only eight years old, was soon sent to death in the gas chambers. Hanna understood that the only way to survive was to push away all her feelings.
Hanna pretended to be older than she was and worked hard. She endured starvation and beatings and saw things she could never forget. She tried to keep track of time by following the seasons, but it was difficult. After spending time in several different camps, Hanna finally arrived at the Majdanek extermination camp.
Time and again, the guards had assigned Hanna, “Prisoner Z-4517”, to the ranks of those who could still work. But in Majdanek, it was Hanna’s turn to die. She was literally standing on the threshold of the door to the gas chamber when the guards received new orders. All able-bodied prisoners were to be sent to Hamburg to work as slave labourers in the Nazi German war industry.
