Riwka Herszberg

Riwka Herszberg was born in Zduńska Wola, Poland, on June 7, 1938.

She was just six years old when the SS hanged her at Bullenhuser Damm.

Riwka’s father, Moshe Jakob Herszberg, owned a small cloth factory.

He and his wife, Marie (known as Mania), fled with Riwka when the Germans occupied Poland. They were eventually captured and deported to Auschwitz.

Moshe was murdered in the Birkenau concentration camp.

Mania survived the Shoah and returned to Poland to search for Riwka. Later, she immigrated to the USA and settled in Boston, where she remarried and adopted a boy. However, she became seriously ill, suffered a stroke, and battled depression.

When Mania was shown the photo of Riwka in 1979, she didn’t recognize her daughter.

Riwka's cousin Ella Kozlowski was sent from Auschwitz to a labour battalion in Bremen, Germany. After her liberation, she went to Israel, where she spent the rest of her life.

Ella, who worked at the Investigation Office for Nazi Violent Crimes in Tel Aviv, discovered Riwka's photo and name on a wanted poster by Günther Schwarberg in 1979 and contacted the journalist.