The girl, who was considered dead in Auschwitz, was found alive after 81 years
Kyiv • UNN
Researchers have found 86-year-old Gertrude Strix in the United States, who was believed to have died in Auschwitz. Her father handed her 5-year-old daughter over to an unknown woman before being deported in 1944, which saved the girl's life.
For decades, Gertrude's tracks were linked only to her father, Isidore Strix, a Polish citizen of Jewish descent who was deported and died in prison. But the fate of little Trudy deviated from the tragic fate of her father, and she was saved. This became known after 81 years.
Reports UNN with reference to Ansa.
Everyone believed that Gertrude had died in Auschwitz, as well as many children who had been consumed by the deadly mechanism of the extermination camps, which killed the most defenseless in the first place. Nevertheless, the search for the girl lasted for decades.
Через 81 рік Гертруду повернуло до життя дослідження проекту
for Reference
The project aims to reveal the stories of solidarity and courage in Fascist Italy during the time of racial laws.
"Thanks to our research, we were able to find Trudy in the United States and introduce her to the family that saved her," historian Maria Grazia Lancellotti told ANSA.
It turned out that Gertrude's father, Isidore Styx, entrusted the girl to an unknown woman a few minutes before he was deported to Nazi-occupied Rome. This woman later fled to the United States.
and it was in Regina Coeli Marcella in February 1944. Marcella took control of the life of Trudy, who was only 5 years old. Gertrude's father, Isidore, was supposed to be taken to Fossoli, and from the truck he could only hand over the little girl to this unknown person.
Trudy doesn't speak a word of Italian, Marcella doesn't understand polish, but she adds a third to her family, already having two children. The little girl remains in this family, which was given to her by fate, until June.
Then her mother Fanny manages to find out from the Jewish community of Rome where her daughter is, and goes after her. They live in captivity in a monastery for a month.
Then salvation: they are among thousands of refugees who, aboard the ship Gibbons, which left Naples on July 20, 1944, managed to reach the United States and stay in the Oswego refugee camp.
Trudy still lives in the United States and has a son named Brian. She is 86 years old and alive thanks to the solidarity and fatality of the events that defined so many lives in those inhumane years.
recall
UNN reported that the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum did not invite representatives of Russia to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camp on January 27, 2025. The reason is Russia's aggression in Ukraine and lack of understanding of the value of freedom.
