Paula Schwarz

Paula Schwarz was born in Berlin, Germany, on July 27, 1930, the youngest of three children to Jacob Schwarz and Mindel Neugewirtz Schwarz. She was a sweet, bright, and happy child who was loved dearly by her parents, older brother, Allan, and sister, Shula.

Paula’s innocent childhood was upended with the institution of the Nuremburg Laws in 1935, which limited Jewish civil liberties in Germany and made it very hard for Jews to live safe and productive lives. Immigration for family units was extremely difficult and so her parents were forced to make an impossible decision about their children’s futures. After years of trying, Mindel and Jacob succeeded in obtaining immigration visas for Allan and Shula, but felt that at age 8, Paula was too young to send away. Thus, she remained with them in Berlin.

Their hope for their family to remain together was dashed when in late 1938 Jacob was arrested by the Gestapo on some pretense and taken to Sachsenhausen, a Labor Camp outside of Berlin. Not long after, Mindel and Paula were forcibly moved from their home to the opposite side of the city where Mindel was made to work as a Slave Laborer for Siemens Corporation.

On March 6, 1943, 12-year-old Paula and her mother, Mindel, were among the 692 people sent to Auschwitz Concentration Camp from a gathering place (sammelplatz) at a former kindergarten at the Levetzowstrasse Synagogue, on one of the last transports out of Berlin. Neither Mindel nor Paula survived.

An iron monument with the inscription of the number of victims, dates of the transports, and their final destinations marks the spot. Since it is unknown the exact date that they perished at Auschwitz, Paula and Mindel’s family recites the Mourners Kaddish for them on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.