My Voice: Eva Neumann

The My Voice Project is a unique initiative by The Fed, Manchester's leading social care charity serving the Jewish community. The My Voice Project empowers Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK to share their entire life stories including experiences before, during and after the war years. This project involves a bespoke methodological approach, producing books that preserve their unique voices. The My Voice Project ensures firsthand accounts are remembered and valued for future generations, highlighting the critical role of individual perspectives in ensuring a deeper historical understanding.

Eva Neumann was born in 1929 in the town of Szolyva in the Carpathian Mountains. She was the eldest of three children, and family life was centred around Jewish practice and learning. However, their lives became increasingly curtailed by rising antisemitism. After the German occupation of Hungary, the family was rounded up by Nazis and eventually deported to Auschwitz. Eva describes the stench, heat, hunger and lack of sanitation on the tortuous journey.

Eva appears in some of the photographs that are the only visual evidence of mass murder at Auschwitz. Upon arrival, she was shaved, tattooed and given a uniform to wear. She felt dehumanised and alone. Given a job in the sorting barracks known as Kanada, Eva was able to steal food, clothes and on one occasion, diamonds, which possibly saved her life. In January 1945, Eva was forced on a Death March away from the camp - to Bergen Belsen and then on to Berlin.

After the Second World War, Eva hitch-hiked through Europe, and was later introduced to Hungarian businessman, Leopold Neumann who had escaped to Britain before the war. Eva and Leo married in 1950 and raised a family in Manchester. In her later years, Eva has devoted much of her energy to sharing her experiences of the Holocaust. Many people have been inspired by her message of hope and kindness, her resilience, warmth and wisdom.

Eva's book is part of the My Voice book collection.