Magda Spira wearing a scarf
Object numberM1992/013b
Title Magda Spira wearing a scarf
DescriptionPhotograph of Magda Spira (nee Edelmann) wearing a scarf, late 1940s.
Magda Spira (nee Edelmann) was born in Kassa (Kosice), Slovakia, on 4 December 1924. She had three sisters (one of whom was her twin sister) Eva, Judith and Katherine (Kathy Vardy) and a brother Lesley. Her mother was Thereza Goldberger and her father Joseph Edelmann was a World War I veteran. The family were forced into the Kosice ghetto, then deported to Auschwitz; her parents were murdered upon arrival. After about five days Magda and her sisters were taken to Kaiserwald, a concentration camp near Riga, Latvia. Magda was assigned to a work detail in the camp sorting belongings, unpicking clothing to search for hidden valuables such as gold and jewellery.
Later, she was deported to Magdeburg where she worked in an aluminium factory. Later on the forced ‘death march’ they were abandoned by the Germans and Magda and her sisters began to make their way home. Lesley survived by hiding in the forest with partisans. Magda met her husband in June 1946; they married a few months later in September 1946. Her son Peter was born before they migrated to Israel in 1949. Magda and her family stayed in Israel for seven years before immigrating to Australia, joining her brother who had migrated in 1949. Gradually each sister migrated to Australia so they could be together.
Magda Spira (nee Edelmann) was born in Kassa (Kosice), Slovakia, on 4 December 1924. She had three sisters (one of whom was her twin sister) Eva, Judith and Katherine (Kathy Vardy) and a brother Lesley. Her mother was Thereza Goldberger and her father Joseph Edelmann was a World War I veteran. The family were forced into the Kosice ghetto, then deported to Auschwitz; her parents were murdered upon arrival. After about five days Magda and her sisters were taken to Kaiserwald, a concentration camp near Riga, Latvia. Magda was assigned to a work detail in the camp sorting belongings, unpicking clothing to search for hidden valuables such as gold and jewellery.
Later, she was deported to Magdeburg where she worked in an aluminium factory. Later on the forced ‘death march’ they were abandoned by the Germans and Magda and her sisters began to make their way home. Lesley survived by hiding in the forest with partisans. Magda met her husband in June 1946; they married a few months later in September 1946. Her son Peter was born before they migrated to Israel in 1949. Magda and her family stayed in Israel for seven years before immigrating to Australia, joining her brother who had migrated in 1949. Gradually each sister migrated to Australia so they could be together.
Production date
Subjectconcentration camps, survivors, resistance
Object namephotographs
Materialdigital
Dimensions
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Magda Spira