Names Not Numbers

Trudy Album

Samorin, Slovakia

Ghetto In Slovakia

Auschwitz Concentration Camp

Plaszow Concentration Camp

1929

Trudy Album

Samorin, Slovakia

1929

Trudy was born in 1929 in Samorin, a small town near Bratislava in Slovakia, which was later annexed by Hungary. Her grandparents lived in Bratislava. Life changed dramatically for Trudy and her family during World War II. In 1944, when the Nazis took over, Trudy had to wear the yellow star marking her as a Jew.

She and her family were taken to a nearby ghetto. From the ghetto, her father was taken away to a labor detail, and they never saw him again.

‍

At the age of 15, Trudy, along with her mother and sisters, was deportedto Auschwitz-Birkenau. She was selected to work, while her mother andsisters were sent in the opposite direction and tragically gassed. After Auschwitz, Trudy was sent to the Plaszow camp near Krakow and then to other work camps.

‍

In 1945, Trudy was liberated by the Americans while on a train after a large massacre by the Nazis. After liberation, she returned to her hometown to search for surviving family members. She learned that her father had died shortly before the war ended, but she did find an uncle who survived. He encouraged her to emigrate to America, where she had an aunt and uncle.

In 1946, Trudy arrived in New York City. She lived with her aunt and uncle, working in factories during the day and attending school at night.

In 1950, Trudy married Lou Album, and together they began building a family.

‍

Names Not Numbers

Trudy Album

Trudy Album

The End