Vera Federman
1924-2017
“One day, they lined us up and we had to go past Mengele naked, with our shoes in our hand… He said to me, ‘You won’t do. You’re too thin. Go that way,’ which was left. I didn’t go all the way there…I spoke German very well, and I said, ‘Oh, but I’m very strong, I can work.’ A German guard was standing next to me. She leaned to him, and she said, ‘Lass das kleine gehen [Let the little one go],’ and he did. He did.” – Vera Federman
Vera (Frank) Federman was born in Debrecen, Hungary in June 1924. The Nazis invaded Hungary in March 1944. In June, on Vera’s 20th birthday, Vera and her family were deported to Auschwitz and separated. Vera was in Auschwitz for six weeks before the Nazis sent her to a munitions factory in Allendorf, a subcamp of Buchenwald.Vera was liberated by the American forces on March 28, 1945, and upon returning to Debrecen, she discovered that only she and her beloved cousin Marika had survived. Their lives shattered, they found refuge in a DP Camp in Austria.
In May 1946, the Hillel Foundation for Jewish Campus Life offered scholarships for young, educated, English-speaking survivors to enroll in American colleges. She and Marika both qualified, and left Europe for the University of Washington in December 1947. Soon after moving to Seattle, Vera met Marvin Federman, a US Army veteran who had served in Europe. They married in 1949 and had two children (Murray and Judy) and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Vera shared her story as a member of the Holocaust Center for Humanity’s Speakers Bureau. She passed away in 2017.
Video Testimony – Vera Federman
Arrival to Auschwitz
Seperated
“Let the Little One Go”
Full Testimony
Photo Gallery – Vera Federman
V. Federman Gallery 1
Vera's parents, Utka and Miklos, on their wedding day.
V. Federman Gallery 2
Vera's Jewish elementary school, 1930s.
V. Federman Gallery 3
Vera and her cousin Marika, 1938.
V. Federman Gallery 4
Vera (left) and her friends in Debrecen, Hungary, 1939.
V. Federman Gallery 5
Vera reading a book, 1939.
V. Federman Gallery 6
Hillel scholarship students. Vera (second from right) and her cousin Marika.
V. Federman Gallery 7
Vera and her friends, 3 months after liberation.
V. Federman Gallery 8
Vera at 21 years old, 1945.
V. Federman Gallery 9
Vera on SS Marine Tiger boat to USA, December 1947.
V. Federman Gallery 10
Marika Abrams (left), Vera (right), and their friends, 1940.
V. Federman Gallery 11
Vera and Marvin Federman getting married, 1949.
V. Federman Gallery 12
Marvin Federman and son Murray.
V. Federman Gallery 13
Vera (right) and cousin Marika.
V. Federman Gallery 14
Vera with her husband Marvin, 1991.
V. Federman Gallery 15
Vera Federman - Photo is from the book, The Triumphant Spirit.
