Lily Ebert was born in Hungary and was the eldest of six children. On 19th March 1944 when she was fourteen years old, Lily’s life changed forever. Lily and her mother and siblings were sent to the Ghetto where they were subjected to terrible privations. Soon after, her brother was taken from the Ghetto to a Labour Camp to work. Lily’s mother, three sisters and younger brother were taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau. On the awful train journey which lasted five days, around 70 people (men, woman and children) were put in the cattle truck with very little food or water. A number of people died on the way. Once they arrived at the concentration camp Lily and two of her sisters were selected to live as labourers, whereas her mother, her younger bother and sister were sent straight to the crematorium. From Auschwitz-Birkenau, Lily and her two sisters were sent to work at an ammunitions factory in Altenburg. As the allied forces came close, they were taken on a march for two days. On the second day (April 13th 1945) they we liberated. Lily feels that it was just pure luck that she and her two sisters survived. Lily was reunited with her eldest brother in Israel in 1956.

The Pendant

Today Lily wears a pendant which was hidden in her mother’s shoe in the Ghetto. During the journey to Auschwitz, she and her mother swapped shoes. As her shoes became worn down, Lily hid the pendant in her ration of daily bread. She says ‘I think it is the only gold that went into Auschwitz-Birkenau and came out with its original owner”. For Lily this gold which she wears around her neck everyday to honour the memory of her family, is a constant reminder of what was lost and what survived.