In 1945, in the final months of the Third Reich, Eva Noack-Mosse was deported to the Nazi concentration camp of Theresienstadt. A trained journalist and expert typist, she was put to work in the Central Evidence office of the camp, compiling endless lists--inmates arriving, inmates deported, possessions confiscated from inmates, and all the obsessive details required by the SS. With access to camp records, she secretly began to record additional statistics and happenings in a diary. Noack-Mosse's unique contribution is her detailed documentation not only of the horrors of daily life within Theresienstadt, but also of their beginning and end. She gathered information from surviving inmates of earlier events within the walled fortress, witnessed the defeat and departure of the Nazis, observed the arrival of the International Red Cross and the Soviet Army takeover of the camp and town, assisted in administration of the camp's closure, and aided displaced persons in discovering the fates of their family and friends. After her return home, Noack-Mosse cross-referenced her data with that of others to provide evidence of Nazi crimes. At least 35,000 people died at Theresienstadt and another 90,000 were sent on to death camps elsewhere.
Series:
George L. Mosse series in modern European cultural and intellectual history
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