Gitta Simon papers

Gitta Simon (1899-1993, nicknamed Gitti) was born Margit Kohn on 23 April 1899 in Moson, Hungary to Bernat and Hermina (née Schonfeld) Kohn. She had five siblings. Her family spoke German at home. Her father owned a men’s clothing store in Moson, and the family lived in an apartment above it. She married David Barta (d. 1939) around 1921. He was 19 years older than she and died in August 1939. On 20 February 1943 she married Laszlo Simon (d. 1969, nicknamed Laci) in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. He worked as a urologist before the war. In June 1944 Gitta and Laci Simon were deported to Auschwitz. She was transferred to Ravensbrück on 16 August 1944 and to Altenburg subcamp of Buchenwald on 22 September 1944. While on a death march, she was liberated by the United States Army. She reunited with her husband after the war. Her twin sisters, Olci and Irene Kohn, both perished in the camp. In 1947 Gitta and Laci Simoni moved to Shanghai. Because of the Chinese Communist Revolution, they fled China in 1949 and immigrated to Toronto, Canada. The collection consists of a memoir documenting the Holocaust experiences of Gitta Simon (née Kohn), originally of Moson, Hungary, including her deportation to Auschwitz in June 1944, transfer to Altenburg subcamp of Buchenwald. While on a death march, Simon was liberated by the United States Army. The memoir is in Hungarian and was written post-war while she and her husband, Laszlo Simon, were living in Shanghai (1947-1949). A digital English translation of the memoir is also available at the USHMM (DS135.H93 S5968 2000). Also included are a small number of documents including marriage and birth certificates, immunization records, and an identity card stating that Simon had been imprisoned at Auschwitz. The identity card erroneously lists her last name as Kolm and her birth year as 1905. The latter mistake was intentional on Simon’s part so that she would appear younger and more capable of work.