Charlotte Neufeld

Charlotte (Sari) Ickovits/Itskovitch (later Charlotte Neufeld) was born on September 26, 1919, in Dunkovica, Czechoslovakia. She grew up in Beregsasz/Berehovo where she was an excellent student who spoke multiple languages and was a gifted violin player. Charlotte and her family were eventually deported to Auschwitz where she was separated from the rest of her family, except her sister Irene. Charlotte and Irene were sent to Sommerda where Charlotte was chosen to be a supervisor. She ensured that the frailest and sickest women would have the easiest jobs to keep them from being killed by the Nazis. In the spring of 1945, Charlotte and Irene were taken on a death march for ten days with very little food or water. It was on this march that Charlotte’s best friend Magda was killed by machine-gun fire from strafing American planes. After being liberated by the Americans, Charlotte married Ernest whom she had known before the war. They lived in Budapest where she went for a year to medical school. They then moved to Prague, Haifa and eventually to the United States. Charlotte is the mother of Amos Neufeld and grandmother of Heschel alums Ben and Maddie Neufeld.

You can see artifacts that Charlotte donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum here, and learn more about her story by clicking on the tab entitled "About this Document."