Names Not Numbers

Ettel Mikel

Krakow, Poland

Krakow Ghetto

Plaszow Concentration Camp

Ravensbruck Concentration Camp

1928

Ettel Mikel

Krakow, Poland

1928

Ettel was born on February 15, 1928, in Krakow, Poland. Before the war, Jews in Krakow were considered part of a higher social class, and life was relatively stable for her family. As the Nazi occupation intensified, Ettel's father devised a clever strategy to protect his family from the Germans by pretending they had scarlet fever in their apartment, a tactic that kept the Nazis away for a time.

Eventually, Ettel and her family were forced into the Krakow ghetto, a harrowing experience that marked the beginning of their descent into the horrors of the Holocaust. As the situation worsened, the Germans began deporting people to concentration camps, and Ettel found herself in the Plaszow concentration camp. At one point, she and her family attempted to hide in a bunker.

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Tragedy struck when Ettel's sister was shot by the Nazis.

Unable to take care of her any longer, Ettel's father sent her away in hopes of giving her a better chance at survival. Unfortunately, she was soon separated from her parents as well, as they were torn apart in the concentration camps.

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Ettel endured the unimaginable, surviving seven concentration camps, including Plaszow and Ravensbrück.

Names Not Numbers

Ettel Mikel

Ettel Mikel

The End