Helen Jonas-Rosenzweig (born Helena Sternlicht ; April 25, 1925 ? December 20, 2018) was a Polish Holocaust survivor who was interned during World War II at the Płaszow concentration camp where she was forced to work as a maid for SS camp commandant Amon Goth .

Born in Krakow , she survived the Holocaust with the help of Oskar Schindler , who was credited with saving the lives of nearly 1,200 Jewish forced laborers . After the war, Jonas-Rosenzweig emigrated to the United States . She resided in Boca Raton , Florida. Jonas-Rosenzweig met the daughter of Amon Goth , Monika Hertwig  [ de ] , and together they were featured in the 2006 documentary, Inheritance , made for PBS by James Moll .

Early life [ edit ]

Helen Jonas-Rosenzweig was born Helena Sternlicht in Krakow , Second Polish Republic in 1925, ^[1] to Szymon and Lola Sternlicht. ^[2] She was the youngest daughter of an observant Jewish family. ^[3] She remembered her early life as happy. She had two sisters, Bronisława and Sydonia. ^[4] When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, she and her family were forced to relocate to the Krakow Ghetto . ^[5]

World War II [ edit ]

Płaszow Concentration Camp [ edit ]

In 1942, Sternlicht and her family were deported from the Krakow Ghetto and sent to concentration camps. Her father died at the Beł?ec extermination camp . She, her mother, and two sisters were sent to Krakow-Płaszow , an arbeitslager (forced labor camp).

On the third day of her internment at Płaszow, Sternlicht was washing windows in a barracks when Goth, the camp commandant, entered the room. He commented on the job she was doing and ordered her to go to his villa on the grounds of the camp to work as a housemaid . ^{[4] [7] [8]}

She moved from the barracks to Goth's residence, where she was forced to work as a maid. She shared a room in the basement with another woman, Helen Hirsch (portrayed in the novel Schindler's Ark and its film adaptation Schindler's List ), who was also forced to work for Goth. The two women shared the household duties at the commandant's home for the next two years, where they lived in constant fear for their lives. ^[2]

While working for Goth, Sternlicht saw his notorious sadism firsthand. ^[9] She said that he would shoot prisoners from the balcony of his villa, ^[8] and she saw him murder several people and order the deaths of many more. He also beat her. She said that while Goth as depicted in Schindler's List appeared to be interested romantically in his maid, he was not attracted to her in real life. ^[7]

She later recalled that shortly after she moved to Goth's home, she saw him suddenly, and without provocation, shoot dead a young Jewish man who worked for him as a valet. ^[2] During this period Sternlicht had a boyfriend at the camp, Adam Sztab, who was part of a resistance group inside the camp. She stole some papers from Goth that she gave to Sztab. Goth was told of Sztab's activities by a guard. Goth shot Sztab to death within earshot of Sternlicht, and she was certain that he would kill her too, but he never mentioned it to her. Goth had Sztab's body hung publicly for other prisoners to see, along with a warning about trying to escape. ^[7]

Oskar Schindler [ edit ]

Oskar Schindler was a frequent guest at Goth's home and he often had encouraging words for Sternlicht, who recalled his saying to her, "Remember the people in Egypt? They were freed . So you will be, too." ^[7] After Goth's arrest for embezzling Jewish property from the German government, she later recalled, "Like magic, all of a sudden the doorbell rings ? Schindler is standing there in his coat and saying, 'You're coming with me'". Schindler, who saved about 1,200 Jews from Auschwitz by claiming he needed them to work in his factory, added Sternlicht and her sisters, Bronisława and Sydonia, along with Helen Hirsch, to his list of workers who later became known as the Schindlerjuden . ^[10] By that time, their mother had died from pneumonia due to the poor conditions at the camp. ^[7]

As the Red Army approached Krakow in late 1944, Płaszow was closed, and the inmates were sent to camps around Poland, including death camps like Auschwitz . Schindler made plans to open a munitions factory in Brn?nec , Czech Protectorate , using the workers he had in Krakow. The men on Schindler's list travelled safely by train to Brn?nec, but Schindler's 300 female workers, including Sternlicht and her sisters, were sent to Auschwitz. After a few weeks of negotiations and bribes by Schindler, the women were sent to Brn?nec as well. Sternlicht and her sisters spent the remainder of the war in the relative safety of Schindler's camp until they were liberated by the Red Army in May 1945. ^[4]

After the war, Sternlicht testified against Amon Goth at his trial in Krakow, where he was sentenced to death and executed. She met Joseph Jonas two days after liberation, married him and emigrated with her family to the United States in 1946. ^[4]

Inheritance [ edit ]

In 2004, Jonas-Rosenzweig met with Monika Hertwig  [ de ] , Amon Goth's daughter. ^{[8] [11] [12]} Hertwig had requested the meeting, but Jonas-Rosenzweig was hesitant because her memories of Goth and the concentration camp were so traumatic. She eventually agreed after Hertwig wrote to her, "We have to do it for the murdered people." ^[8]

Jonas-Rosenzweig felt touched by this sentiment and agreed to meet her at the Płaszow Memorial Monument in Poland and tour Goth's villa with her for the 2006 documentary Inheritance . The documentary's director, James Moll , an associate of Steven Spielberg , helped bring the two women together to make the film for PBS . ^{[8] [11] [12] [13]}

Personal life [ edit ]

Two days after they were liberated from the Nazis, she met her first husband, Joseph Jonas. They married in 1946 and emigrated to the United States. They lived in the Bronx , raising three children: a son and twin girls. ^[4]

In 1980, Joseph, who suffered from survivor's guilt , committed suicide. ^[7] She then married a philanthropist and real-estate developer, Henry Rosenzweig (born 5 September 1917). ^[14] She was widowed a second time in 2007. She resided in Boca Raton , Florida until her death in December 2018. ^{[7] [15] [16]}

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• USC Shoah Foundation Interview with Helen Jonas-Rosenzweig
• Voices on Antisemitism Podcast with Helen Jonas-Rosenzweig
• Jewish group battling conversion of 'Schindler's List' house into luxury villa