Irma Hanner
Irma Hanner was born in Dresden, Germany in 1930 to Jewish parents. Her father died shortly after, leaving her mother as the sole child caretaker. With WWII began at the beginning of her childhood, her early life became defined by the Jewish regulations implemented by the Nazi regime.
At the age of nine, her mother was arrested by the Gestapo for simply her beliefs. On that day, Irma walked into an empty house after returning home from school. Scared for the fate of herself, she waited alone for two days before her aunt arrived. Irma moved in with her aunt, who recently married a Christian German. His faith allowed her to continue her education. On the other hand, her religion forced her to wear a Jewish star on her shoulder.
She recalls taking extreme efforts to protect herself on her walk to school each morning. For instance, covering the Star of David with her school satchel to avoid being caught by the Nazi police who patrolled the surrounding area. In 1942, she was caught by the Gestapo and escorted to her aunt’s home where they were given 10 minutes to pack their belongings into a suitcase. Irma recalls her uncle desperately trying to prevent their transportation by offering to legally adopt her.
While this attempt failed, she was separated and taken to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp and ghetto in Czechoslovakia rather than Auschwitz. Throughout the next five years, she would experience harsh working and living conditions as the German’s hatred for Jewish individuals rose. This fostered the suspicions of the humanitarian non-profit, American Red Cross. To calm the pressure that was arising around the fate of Jews in Germany, the Third Reich agreed to a visit from ambassadors in the summer of 1944. This took place in Irma’s home, Theresienstadt. The showcase of disease and death that she was familiar with was hidden. Instead, the community was transformed into a utopia of faux paradise. Irma remembers how this illusion was quickly reverted to its original reality as soon as the Red Cross left the nation.
In 1949, she was liberated and reunited with her aunt and uncle in Dresden, Germany. Together, they migrated to Australia to begin their new lives.
Written by Emma Rieser