Sophie Vermes was born into a successful middle-class family in Mezocsat, Hungary. Although her father died in 1938, she describes her childhood as comfortable and filled with interactions with non-Jewish residents of her town. In March of 1944, her life was thrown into disarray by the Nazi-occupation of Hungary.
In 2014, Sophie sat down with Grade 9 student Matthew Hirshberg to discuss her journey through the ghetto, Auschwitz, Plaszow and Augsburg concentration camps. Her story concludes with her escaping from Communist-occupied Hungary, and starting her life over with her husband in Canada.
Videos
- 1. Sophie Vermes - Introduction and Prewar Memories
- 2. Noticing Changes in Hungary
- 3. Changes, Effects and Treatment
- 4. Going to a Concentration Camp
- 5. Going to a Concentration Camp Part 2
- 6. Liberation
- 7. Finding Family
- 8. Postwar University
- 9. Escaping Communist Hungary
- 10. Escaping Communist Hungary Part 2; Starting a New Life