Elizabeth Malina - NNN 2022

Elizabeth is one of five children, four girls and one boy, born into a religiously observant family in the Czechoslovakian town, Turja Paseka. The family lived on a farm in this small village where her mother had to prepare kosher food from scratch because there were few Jewish resources in town. Her father, however, wanted to give his chil-dren a Jewish education, and hired a tutor to teach his children how to daven, pray,and live a Jewish life. When the Germans occupied Turja Paseka, the family was takento a ghetto in the nearby town of Uzhhord, historically known as Ungvár. Elizabeth, her sisters and parents were deported to Auschwitz. Her brother was not with them because he was in the army. Elizabeth’s optimism, strength of character and strong belief in Divine Providence carried her through the horrors of Auschwitz. Her parents were killed in Auschwitz, but all of her siblings survived the war. Elizabeth’s resilience helped her as she married in Slovakia and raised a daughter. The family arrived in Chicago in 1967 where Elizabeth generously shares her story of survival so the young generation will never forget the Holocaust and their Jewish legacy.