My grandmother was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp in November 1943. In late March 1945 she was part of a prisoner trade based on the fact that she was considered a Turkish citizen because of her marriage. She arrived by ship to Istanbul in April 1945 and was given housing by a Jewish relief organization called the American Jewish Joint Distribution committee (the Joint for short), now known as JDC, while she attempted to reach her relatives and get money to join her children in the United States.
This was another time of limbo for my grandmother. After years of separation from her children in Vienna, and then two years separated from her husband who was sent to a different camp, here she was in Istanbul where she knew no one and was not allowed to leave the hotel she was housed in. Her husband’s relatives were able to visit her, but she had no freedom. She was moved from place to place as the Joint tried to save money on housing, so sometimes the relatives didn’t know where she was. In Vienna she was considered Turkish, but Turkey didn’t recognize her as such. So now, with only the clothes on her back, she was alone in a place where she didn’t speak the language, with no means or freedom to leave. A prisoner once again. Stateless, with no passport to be able to travel anywhere. It took her awhile to figure out how to communicate with her children – the only address she remembered for Eva was that of the nursing school she had been attending in 1942. Eva had graduated, gotten married, and moved several times by the time my grandmother wrote to her school address in 1945. Unfortunately too, my mother’s handwriting was not very legible so even when Helene had an address for Eva, she couldn’t read it!
One thing I’ve come to understand from my grandmother’s papers is that she was a very sensitive and emotional person – wonderful traits, but very difficult when faced with the circumstances of her life. She became anxious and nervous, sometimes fixating on thoughts. One of the hardest things for my grandmother was being separated from her husband and having no idea of his whereabouts – in some ways she regretted leaving Ravensbrück because at least there had been some communication between them.
January 3, 1946 – from a translated letter to her nephew Robert who lived in London
“ I am so happy that you have not completely forgotten me and so sad that my letters to Eva were returned as undeliverable. …
I think day and night of Vitali and thank you … for your investigation, God give me my Vitali again! I am here with nobody to share my burden! …
What is up with Harry, I know he was in the Pacific? Can you think of my disposition? Vitali missing, knowing nothing about Harry…. For months I knew that Everl was married, but did not know her husband’s name.
Robert, I have suffered more here mentally than in the camp. There I heard every 4 weeks form Vitali and I thought all of you were safe.
As soon as I know on which ship I will leave, I will give you the news, and urge you to tell all the children and relatives for my sake.
I thank you for your love…. Sometimes I have such stupid thoughts.
Help me to find Vitali”
Helene in Istanbul - 1945 or 1946