Anita grew up in Breslau, Germany. In 1942 her parents were arrested and taken to Isbica, where they were shot. Anita and her sister Renate were arrested and sent to Auschwitz. A year later the sisters were sent to Bergen-Belsen, which both survived.
Ruth lived in Dachau, Germany, with her father, mother and brother. As Nazi persecution intensified, the Neumeyers began to worry for their children’s safety and arranged for them to travel on a Kindertransport to the UK. Ruth never saw her parents again.
Shortly after the Nazi occupation of Paris, Claude's husband was arrested and killed. Her enquiries after his whereabouts led to her own arrest and deportation to Auschwitz and Ravensbruck. She survived and was reunited with her son after the war.
Alicia spent a happy childhood with her family in Galicia, now in Ukraine. This all changed with the Nazi invasion. Her brother Josef disappeared without trace and her parents were shot. Through extraordinary good fortune, Alicia survived.
David and Israel lived in Antwerp with their father, Leibish. Leibish fled with his wife and sons to Nice. In August 1942 they were arrested and sent to Auschwitz, where Leibish was selected for slave labour. His family was murdered in the gas chambers.
Jan lived in Krakow and went into hiding until 1944. He was then betrayed and sent to the Dora concentration camp near Nordhausen. His young age meant that he was spared the slave labour which killed so many at this notorious camp.