Names Not Numbers

Judy Rodan

Berehove, Czechoslovakia

Auschwitz Concentration Camp

In Hiding

1944

Judy Rodan

Berehove, Czechoslovakia

1944

Judy was born in Berehove, Czechoslovakia, and had one younger brother. In May 1944, during the last deportation from their area, her family was transported to Auschwitz. Judy's grandmother, who managed a wooden barrel factory, arranged to smuggle her out of harm’s way. Judy became the only survivor from her family.

She was saved by a Christian woman and lived as a hidden child, assuming a false identity in a convent in Budapest. Judy remained the sole survivor from her hometown of 11,000 people. After the liberation in 1946, her aunt and uncle found her in the convent and took her in.

In 1947, Judy emigrated to Venezuela.

By 1952, she was admitted to the United States, where she initially settled in Detroit, Michigan, before moving to New York and eventually returning to Venezuela. There, she met her husband and built a family, having 3 children, 7 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild.

In 2017, due to the worsening revolution in Venezuela, Judy decided to permanently stay in the United States.

The End

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Judy Rodan interview at Brauser Maimonides Academy in the school year 2023-2024

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