‘Aunt’ Magda

The world watches the current events in Ukraine and complains about the price of gas and goods. Some Sun City residents remember their ancestors that lived through harder times; grandparents who survived the depression and World War II. We watch as Holocaust survivors who fled the Nazis as children must now run from Russians.

Adrianne Kaplan, Sun City resident, recalls a woman in her life that survived the Holocaust, Magda Brown. Kaplan thinks of a woman she grew up calling “Aunt.”

Magda Brown was a Holocaust survivor. She died in 2020 at age 93. Her words remind this generation of the dangers of hatred, prejudice, and discrimination. (Photo provided)

Kaplan said, “Although Magda was not my aunt by blood, she is one of the people in my life that I held dearest, as family. Magda and her husband, Bob, were always there in my life. She witnessed and endured the worst of inhumanity, but somehow found courage to go on and forgive. My Aunt Magda was taken at age 17 to Auschwitz.”

Magda Brown was born on June 11, 1927, in Miskolc, Hungary. On her 17th birthday, she and her family were crowded onto a railroad boxcar with 80 other people headed to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. She was separated from her family. Her family was sent to the gas chambers. She feared that they all would die.

Kaplan said, “Magda escaped and survived later on her way to another camp. She decided to share her story with the world and preach kindness, tolerance and respect. People need to hear this message now. She traveled with her daughter, Rochelle, across the country and around the world, sharing her story of surviving the Auschwitz-Birkenau and Buchenwald concentration camps and building a new life in the United States.”

The message that Brown sent needs to heard again, Brown said, “Protect your freedom. Think before you hate. Stand up to the deniers.”

Kaplan said, “Magda frequently participated on panel discussions about preventing genocide and fighting for the rights all vulnerable groups. She wanted to ensure that we as a society learn from the past.”

Brown was a catalyst in the creation of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center that opened in 2009.

Kaplan said, “At the Grand Opening of the Holocaust Museum, my father, Warren Kaplan, was featured with his photograph hung on the wall. He was recognized along with over 1000 others who had served in World War II. They were all contained in a book and the wall photos were rotated.”

Magda Brown meets and forgives WWII German cadet. (Photo provided)

A dilapidated rail car was one of the first major exhibits for the Holocaust Museum.

Kaplan said, “The boxcar resembles the rail cars used to transport millions of Jews to Nazi concentration camps. Seeing it is overwhelming for many survivors.”

Brown never stopped hoping and searching for her family. With the help of the group, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, she was reunited with her brother.

Kaplan said, “Aunt Magda was finally reunited with her brother in 1962. Almost 20 years later, Miklos had been living in Rome.”

Magda passed away July 7, 2020 at the age of 93.

Kaplan said, “They built a statue of her in Germany after she visited there. She passed away about a year ago.”

Brown met with a German Soldier before she died, Lothar Naurath. Naurath was forced to join Hitler’s Youth Corps. He asked for her forgiveness for his part in the atrocities. Kaplan said, “She met with him and forgave him. It was a moment that still gives me goosebumps.”

Kaplan shares her aunt’s message with us. Brown said, “My hope is that through sharing my story, I can personally talk about the horrors of the Holocaust to remind this generation of the dangers of hatred, prejudice and discrimination.”

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