Rita Leibler

Rita Leibler was born in Berlin on 6 April 1932. Her parents were the merchant David Meir Leibler and his wife Malka, who had moved to Berlin from Poland after World War I, met there and married in 1922. Rita had two siblings, her brother Max, born in 1923, and her sister Erna, born in 1926. The family last lived in Gipsstraße in Berlin-Mitte, in a neighbourhood where many Jews lived.
The family's life changed dramatically in October 1938, when Jewish men with Polish citizenship were arrested and deported to Poland. The father was first taken to a camp and later transported to the German-Polish border, from where he went to Oswiecim / Auschwitz, where Malka's family lived. Max had gone to Oswiecim to visit his grandparents immediately after his father's arrest. Malka and the two daughters stayed behind alone in Berlin. The mother tried to earn money to ensure survival. Twelve-year-old Erna had to run the household. After nine months, in the summer of 1939, mother and daughters received entry visas for Poland and also moved to Oswiecim.
Max and Erna managed to escape from Poland to Palestine under difficult circumstances. Rita was too young, she stayed with her parents. In September 1942, Rita was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp together with her parents and murdered there.