Stefania Alonzo

Ibi Ginsburg, a Holocaust Survivor
Ibi Ginsburg was one of the few survivors of the Holocaust. Ibi was born in Hungary to a strict
and religious Jewish family. On March 19, 1944, the Germans invaded Hungary. The Jews were told to
wear yellow Stars of David on their clothes, which included Ibi and her family. All of the Jewish people
were sent to live in crowded, isolated ghettoes (they were small sections of cities where Jews were forced
to live, separated from the rest of the cities by walls and barbed wire fences). After two weeks of living in
the ghettoes, Ibi and her family were told to pack for a three day journey. They did as they were told, but
didn’t know where they were going. After the three day journey, they arrived at Auschwitz Birkenau,
which was a camp. Ibi and her family were separated. Her father was taken first, and then Ibi and her 13-
year-old sister were taken to a different part of camp. Her mother and two younger sisters were led to
another direction, where they were immediately taken to gas chambers to die.
Ibi and her 13-year-old sister had clothes and possessions taken away, had their hair shaved off,
and had to wear a camp uniform. They had to live in a wooden building with concrete floor, and sleep on
bare wooden bunks. There was very little food, and they had to stand for hours so they could be counted.
After three months they were taken to work in a slave labor camp in Germany. When Germany was
losing the war, they were taken on a forced march to a concentration camp. There, they were freed by
Americans on May 1, 1945. Ibi Ginsburg, her father, and 13-year-old sister were able to survive the
Holocaust.
Sister, Father, and Ibi
Ibi and Her Mother
http://holocaustlearning.org/survivors/ibi-ginsburg
13