The Story of Irene Weiss

When I met Irene Weiss for the first time – it was on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz in Poland in January 2020. Meeting here at the place where she hardly survived the atrocities of the Holocaust I once asked her “What made you go on?  What was it that made you survive emotionally.” She responded that she simply wanted to survive, no matter what, as there was a future for her.

She said, “there is always a future,” and stressed that to survive emotionally you must hold on to the most important virtues of decency and humanity to help you go on.

This is the Story of Irene Weiss:

“We came from civilization. Certain things were expected. Certain things were normal. Suddenly to be taken to a place where nothing was familiar and hostility was enormous.”

Her parents, her siblings, her home, her friends - everything she knew as normal was gone.

Towards the very end of her captivity, her sister became too sick to get off the floor and the SS officers picked her sister out for the next truckload to be sent to the gas chambers.

“I lay on the floor with her and told them I didn’t want to be left alone. I was resigned to die. They said, ‘You can go, too’.”

But the next day, the truck never appeared. As Soviet troops approached, the SS personnel fled, leaving the camp unguarded, and the prisoners, including Irene, gradually left.

Irene recounted the tragedy of her experience for delegations representing dozens of countries from around the world. When asked her how she was able to revisit this with such composure, she said:

“I haven’t kept it together this long to fall apart now.”

“I appreciate that the world hasn’t forgotten,”

“But for me to personally show up and be able to tell my story before all these world leaders, that sort of validation is immeasurable.”

Irene rebuilt her life after Auschwitz in the US, learning English and going on to complete her Bachelor’s Degree, raise a family, and spend more than a dozen years as a public school teacher. Her story offers the ultimate lesson of human strength and perseverance in the face of tragedy and loss.