Photograph of Sonia and a group of survivors, 1945
Object numberM1993/009:009
TitlePhotograph of Sonia and a group of survivors, 1945
DescriptionBlack and white photograph of Sonia Sankey (nee Ferder) with a group of survivors in Paris, 1945. The group were held in Buchenwald Concentration Camp together. In Paris, Sonia and her friends visited free kitchens.
Sonia Sankey (nee Ferder) was born in Grodno, Poland on 23 March 1923. When she was a baby the family moved to Vilna, an intellectual town with a strong Jewish culture. Sonia lived with her parents, siblings and grandfather. She had three siblings, an older sister Feiga, an older brother Akiva, and a younger sister Raya. Her two sisters survived the concentration camps and her brother survived by leaving Vilna before the war for Palestine. She and her family were taken to Vilna ghetto, after the Germans invaded Poland. When she heard the ghetto was going to be liquidated, she and a friend escaped with the help of a Lithuanian guard. He helped her to get a job in a factory at Vilna-Kailis Labour Camp, until it was also liquidated five months later. She was then taken to Riga, Stutthof and Buchenwald (Magdeburg-Polte) concentration camps consecutively. In April 1945, the Gestapo ordered the inmates at Buchenwald to march to an unknown destination. She escaped during this march by hiding in a barn with a friend. They travelled to Zehdenick (north-west Germany) and worked briefly on a farm until the Germans surrendered. She was 22 at the time of liberation on 11 April 1945. After liberation, Sonia crossed the Elbe River to escape from the Soviet occupied area of Germany to the French/American side.
She then travelled to Paris where she stayed for three months. In Paris she began to inquire about her family, and met with a cousin. She then moved to Israel. She learned that her mother Malka was murdered during the Ponary Massacre (1941-1944) and her father, Fishel, died in Stutthof concentration camp, possibly from Typhus.
Sonia met her husband Sam Sankiewicz through her brother in Israel, and married him in March 1946. They had two sons. They lived in Israel for seven years until they emigrated to Australia in April 1952, where they changed their name to Sankey.
Sonia Sankey (nee Ferder) was born in Grodno, Poland on 23 March 1923. When she was a baby the family moved to Vilna, an intellectual town with a strong Jewish culture. Sonia lived with her parents, siblings and grandfather. She had three siblings, an older sister Feiga, an older brother Akiva, and a younger sister Raya. Her two sisters survived the concentration camps and her brother survived by leaving Vilna before the war for Palestine. She and her family were taken to Vilna ghetto, after the Germans invaded Poland. When she heard the ghetto was going to be liquidated, she and a friend escaped with the help of a Lithuanian guard. He helped her to get a job in a factory at Vilna-Kailis Labour Camp, until it was also liquidated five months later. She was then taken to Riga, Stutthof and Buchenwald (Magdeburg-Polte) concentration camps consecutively. In April 1945, the Gestapo ordered the inmates at Buchenwald to march to an unknown destination. She escaped during this march by hiding in a barn with a friend. They travelled to Zehdenick (north-west Germany) and worked briefly on a farm until the Germans surrendered. She was 22 at the time of liberation on 11 April 1945. After liberation, Sonia crossed the Elbe River to escape from the Soviet occupied area of Germany to the French/American side.
She then travelled to Paris where she stayed for three months. In Paris she began to inquire about her family, and met with a cousin. She then moved to Israel. She learned that her mother Malka was murdered during the Ponary Massacre (1941-1944) and her father, Fishel, died in Stutthof concentration camp, possibly from Typhus.
Sonia met her husband Sam Sankiewicz through her brother in Israel, and married him in March 1946. They had two sons. They lived in Israel for seven years until they emigrated to Australia in April 1952, where they changed their name to Sankey.
Production placeParis, France
Production date 1945
Subjectsurvivors, photographs, liberation
Object namephotographs
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs. Sonia Sankey