JUDITH BEKER
Judith was born in February 1929, to a Jewish family in Lithuania. She was one of three children, and the two daughters were home schooled.
'In the fall of 1938, six months after my father died, my mother and I moved to Kovno, the capital of Lithuania. I was 9 years old. Kovno at that time had a large Jewish community--approximately one third of the capital's total population. My mother worked as a seamstress, and we moved to Kovno so that she could find work and so that we could be closer to my older brother and sister who were already working there.
The Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in 1940; Germany invaded a year later. In 1943, when I was 14, my family was deported to the Stutthof concentration camp. On arrival we were forced to stand at attention; a heavyset female guard walked by with a whip, saying, "No one leaves alive. You're all doomed." Then we were taken to be examined. A woman in line in front of me had some teeth ripped out and blood flowed from her mouth. When my turn came a guard put her hand inside my crotch, searching for hidden valuables.' 1
In 1944, Judith and her sister escaped from a forced march out of the Stutthof concentration camp, and they escaped to Denmark, where they were liberated.
'In the fall of 1938, six months after my father died, my mother and I moved to Kovno, the capital of Lithuania. I was 9 years old. Kovno at that time had a large Jewish community--approximately one third of the capital's total population. My mother worked as a seamstress, and we moved to Kovno so that she could find work and so that we could be closer to my older brother and sister who were already working there.
The Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in 1940; Germany invaded a year later. In 1943, when I was 14, my family was deported to the Stutthof concentration camp. On arrival we were forced to stand at attention; a heavyset female guard walked by with a whip, saying, "No one leaves alive. You're all doomed." Then we were taken to be examined. A woman in line in front of me had some teeth ripped out and blood flowed from her mouth. When my turn came a guard put her hand inside my crotch, searching for hidden valuables.' 1
In 1944, Judith and her sister escaped from a forced march out of the Stutthof concentration camp, and they escaped to Denmark, where they were liberated.
1 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Judith Beker.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/idcard.php?ModuleId=10006276. Accessed on 13/09/14.
2 Portrait of Judith Beker. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Copyright of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
2 Portrait of Judith Beker. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Copyright of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.