"I wanted to see the sun again"

Erna de Vries

The Death Block 25 in Auschwitz-Birkenau today (Picture: Projekt Zeitlupe, 2006)

This desire is the straw Erna de Vries clutches at in one of the most hopeless moments of her life. Together with her fellow inmates of the infamous Death Block 25 in Auschwitz-Birkenau the 19-year-old German Jew actually is to be sent to the gas chamber that morning. However, she succeeds in escaping this appalling fate: At the last moment she is assigned to a special transport that includes only women who are half Jewish just as she is. The transport takes her to Ravensbrueck, another concentration camp only for women, where she has to work for the Siemens Company. Being compelled to take part in the so-called Death Walk she is finally liberated by US-American troops in May 1945.

Our non-profit association Projekt Zeitlupe Inc. (literally: “slow motion”) aims at documenting and narrating the remarkable life story of the today 83-year-old woman, who was born in Kaiserslautern and lives now in Lathen.

Via this homepage you have the opportunity to learn more about the life of Erna de Vries during the time of National Socialism, for the purpose of which we have provided detailed biographic information. At present we are working on the documentary “Erna de Vries | I wanted to see the sun again” as well as on the completion of further material on this issue, all of which will be provided via this homepage for free.

News

November 08, 2006 New English version
After a long working period our updated web page has finally been put online and is now to a large extent also available in English.
We apologize if we cannot provide all the contents of the German version in English and kindly ask for your understanding.