Necklace made for a young girl by her aunt while imprisoned in a concentration camp

Eva Szegel was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1926. Her family later moved to Munkacs, Czechoslovakia which became part of Hungary in 1938. In May 1944, Eva was deported to Auschwitz death camp with her parents, brother, and extended family. In November 1944, she was transported to Lenzing, a sub-camp of Mauthausen. The camp was liberated in May 1945. Eva was taken to Lake Attersee by the liberating forces and stayed at a converted Hitler Youth camp for rest and recovery. In June 1945, she returned to Munkacs. She found that all the members of her family had perished. She left for Budapest where she enrolled in the University medical school. In 1948, she moved to Vienna to complete her education. She received her medical degree in the summer of 1951 and emigrated to the United States that September. She later acquired the surname Ebin.

The necklace was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993 by Eva Ebin.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Eva Ebin