Kitty
Kitty is the main character in the documentary both as an older woman, looking back on her life, and as a teenage girl viewed in retrospect by the ninety year old woman she would become. At both ages, she is courageous, feisty and willing to look adversity in the face; Kitty does not hide from her past but embraces it, and wants to share it with the next generation, feeling that as a survivor it is her duty to pay it forward, and make her life count in the preservation of the history of the holocaust.
Kitty was just fifteen years old when she and her mother were taken to Auschwitz. This is something she wants to impress upon the two teen girls she takes with her on the trip. She was smart, hard working and devoted to her family, all qualities that enabled her to keep out of trouble and find a way to get through the unspeakable hardships she experienced.
The quality of Kitty's memory is something that shines through in her oration. She recalls perfectly her experiences; from work duties, to the faces of the guards who could kill so easily, and the different camps that she was moved to after Auschwitz was all but evacuated. She is a great storyteller, her words captivating and yet simple. Kitty feels that by surviving she has taken on the responsibility of telling the stories of all those who did not.
Since liberation, Kitty has made it her life's mission to tell her story, and the story of the other Holocaust survivors. She also tells the stories of those who did not survive and has been honored with many awards for her services to the Holocaust survivors.
Kitty's Mother
Kitty's mother was responsible for saving her daughter's life on a number of occasions during their time in Auschwitz, but the key time was prior to the evacuation of one hundred prisoners from Auschwitz. Her name was on the list of those who would march to another camp; Kitty's name was not. An educated woman, Kitty's mother spoke fluent, traditional German which was considered very respectful. With extreme courage, she approached the brutal camp commandant and addressed him in German, asking that Kitty be allowed to go on the march with her. The style of her German speech is believed to have convinced the commandant to say yes to her request.
After liberation, she learned that only she and Kitty had actually survived the war, and that her husband had been shot by the Gestapo; her son had died fighting alongside the Russian army at the Battle of Stalingrad, and her mother had perished immediately after arriving at a concentration camp where she was ushered immediately to the gas chamber.
