Haunted by Auschwitz 80 Years Later

For years, they could not speak about the Holocaust. Teenagers Ruth Cohen, Steven Fenves, and Irene Weiss were deported in crowded freight cars to Auschwitz-Birkenau with 430,000 other Jews from Hungary in mid-1944. Moments after arriving, their families were torn apart. They endured starvation and other barbaric abuse, surrounded by the smoke and ashes of innocent men, women, and children who were murdered by the Nazis. Eighty years after Auschwitz was liberated, hear Ruth, Steven, and Irene recount their harrowing experiences at one of the deadliest Nazi camps and what contributed to their remarkable survival. Their interview was recorded in 2024. Steven Fenves died in December 2025. Guest Dr. Lindsay MacNeill, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Host Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Learn more about Auschwitz and how it was used by the Nazis to murder Europe’s Jews: Auschwitz | Holocaust Encyclopedia (ushmm.org) https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/conten... See photographs taken at Auschwitz during the Holocaust and after liberation: Auschwitz (Abridged Article) - Photographs | Holocaust Encyclopedia (ushmm.org) https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/conten... Learn why Auschwitz was the only Nazi concentration camp where people were tattooed with prisoner numbers during the Holocaust: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/conten... If you would like to receive emails about upcoming Museum’s programs, sign up at: https://engage.ushmm.org/2021-livestr...