Hana Zoltz was born in Lodz, Poland in 1928. Her father died of hunger in the ghetto. He was only 41 years old. The remainder of her family, other than her and her sister, was executed by the Germans. Her mother worked for the administration of the ghetto and could preview the list of individuals slated for transport to the gas chambers. She kept her children safe by removing them from any list. The family remained in the ghetto until it was liquidated. Zoltz and her family were sent to Auschwitz in 1944. When the family arrived at the death camp, the selection process took place. Zoltz and her sister were among those chosen to live. Other members of her family were selected for death and grouped separately. Zoltz never saw them again. They went to the crematoria. Meanwhile, Zoltz and her sister were taken naked to the showers. Their hair was shorn. All the valuables were taken from them. Zoltz actually showered with water while those family members selected for death were gassed in different showers. After Zoltz's shower, she remained in Auschwitz for three days before being transported to [Annotator's Note: inaudible] Germany.

Hana Zoltz worked in a factory making guns. [Annotator's Note: Following the liquidation of the Lodz ghetto in August 1944, Zoltz was selected for work upon her arrival in Auschwitz. She was then transported to Germany as a forced laborer.] She was very good at her machine work. The manager of the factory gave her an apple occasionally, even though he risked punishment from the Germans. The man felt sorry for the skinny little girl who put out such good work. She was eventually relocated from the factory in Germany to a camp in Czechoslovakia. The inmates did not see or know about the five ovens that were in the camp. The Russians arrived to liberate the camp two days before Zoltz and the others were scheduled to go to the ovens on 10 May 1945. The camp was liberated but Zoltz had to be wary of the Russian troops. They were hungry men who might take advantage of a young inexperienced girl. Zoltz was naive about the facts of life. No one had explained it to her. She was in the Theresienstadt concentration camp when she was liberated. Typhus was a real problem for the camp inhabitants. She signed on to help in the hospital. She worked day and night for three months. She was never stricken with the disease. Zoltz and her surviving sister decided to return to Poland in search of other family members. She was not very successful in locating any family survivors of the camps.

Hana Zoltz witnessed the continuing prejudice against the Jews when she returned to Poland after the war. She and other young people decided to migrate to Palestine and help set up their own country. There were difficulties with the English preventing their entry into the country. When Zoltz and others tried to enter Palestine by boat, the English took them into custody. She was sent to Cyprus for a year. It was like a concentration camp environment with little food. She worked in a hospital there and saved many lives. She married prior to going to Palestine. Some of her relatives remained in Poland. They chose not to leave their native country even though there was prejudice against the Jews. Zoltz became pregnant in Cyprus. She entered Palestine while there was a war going on in Jerusalem. She and her husband became members of a kibbutz. They were provided with food and remained. Her husband became a soldier even though there was little training and weapons for him and his colleagues. It was 1967 and many men died in the conflict with the well armed Arabs. Zoltz was removed from the kibbutz so she could safely have her baby. She did not know if her husband was still alive. Upon the birth of her son, she decided to give him her husband's name. Eight days after the birth of her son, her husband came to the hospital to see her and the baby. The family lived in Israel for ten years. Zoltz decided to join her sister in America. She was tired of the continuing war and fighting in Israel.

Hana Zoltz came to America by herself to join her sister. Upon arriving, she immediately went to work in a factory. She had been taught how to work hard by the Germans. She saved her money and paid for her husband's ticket to join her. She continued to save and eventually bought a house. She had to move because of racial tensions in her neighborhood. She did not have sufficient funds to buy the home she wanted but she took a risk. She worked with the owner and managed to acquire the property. She worked hard to pay for the nice home which included a swimming pool. She wanted her son to enjoy being at home. Zoltz went on to open a factory after being in the United States for five years. She became the prime breadwinner for the family. She was a good worker and manager. She liked working for herself. She did very well running her own factory for 25 years in Los Angeles. She sent her son to school to become a lawyer but he did not wish to do that. He joined the business with his mother. Her other son was trained to take over the business. Both were successful. Zoltz has grandchildren who have now taken over the business. Zoltz has made a success in America even though only reaching the sixth grade in the ghetto. She speaks seven languages. You just need to have guts and be honest in America to do well.

Hana Zoltz lived in the ghetto [Annotator's Note: the Lodz ghetto in Poland] as a young girl. She made few friends because the focus was on family and survival. Friends are hard to come by when a person is sick and hungry. Death was all around. She could not understand why she was being punished just for being Jewish. In the ghetto, everyone had to work. She worked even though she also attended school. She made scarves and gloves while in the ghetto. Some of the clothing was for the Germans. She taught herself how to do the work. She is a fast worker even today. While under the rule of the Germans, she never thought she would die. Even at the end of the war in the bitter cold, she felt the bombing would not hurt her. She wanted to die at times, but it never happened. She could not understand much of what was happening. She was too young to comprehend it.

Hana Zoltz arrived at Auschwitz by train. Many people had died during the forced journey. They were confined in the railcar without water or food. After the selection, she remained in the camp. She was fed soup and kept there for three days. She does not understand how she survived the experience. She tells her relatives that they should not throw away food especially bread. Clothes are disposable but not food. In the ghetto, the skin of potatoes was a luxury to eat. People were dying by the hundreds. Hospital supplies were limited. Zoltz has never been much of an eater. She contracted tuberculosis in her youth. While she was in an orphanage hospital, she witnessed the Germans throwing people out of the window next door. There was fear that the soldiers would come to throw them out. Zoltz was sick much of the time. When she fled from the Germans, she hid in a bathroom. She managed to escape to her home. She did not have her Jewish star and feared being caught. She managed to get one and went over a bridge that had a German guard. She reached her home. No one told Zoltz that her father had died [Annotator's Note: her father died of starvation in the ghetto at the age of 41]. With the lack of food, her mother became sick. Zoltz did not know what to do. She managed to get some food to her. Other relatives came and a day later, the Germans told everyone to come down to the street. The selection process began. Some went to work and others went to Auschwitz or other concentration camps.

Hana Zoltz has always had a difficult life. Even in American, life was tough. She saved her money by not eating or buying anything. Now she has everything. People do not know how bad it was during the war. Zoltz continues to want to work. She only stopped when there were physical issues. She has had multiple physical problems including cancer. She still worked. She sacrificed during her life to make ends meet. Zoltz has developed a lucrative career. She and her husband had some disagreements about how to handle financial and life situations. She is a very self-sufficient individual. Zoltz is the builder in the family.