Rena Kornreich Gelissen

Rena Kornreich Gelissen, born Rena Kornreich (August 24 1920 – April 8 2006) was a Polish-born Jew, known for her memoir 'Rena's Promise: A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz,' her story of surviving the Nazi concentration camps with her sister Danka.

Life

In 1920 Rena Kornreich Gelissen was born in Tylicz, Malopolskie Poland to Chaim and Sara Kornreich. She had three sisters: Gertrude, Zosia, and Danka. She was raised in Tylicz, but escaped to Slovakia to avoid the Nazis. To protect the people hiding her, she turned herself into Auschwitz. She was on the first transport of Jewish women into the concentration camp on March 26, 1942. There, she was tattooed ‘1716’ (being the 716'th female to enter the camp). Three days later her sister Danka joined her, where they found an incredibly strong bond that would help them survive the three years and forty-one days they would endure in the camp, undergoing hunger, torment, and abuse. Among these years, Rena and her sister narrowly escaped Nazi experimentation, and underwent forced labour, and in January 1945 the death march to Ravensbrück.

Rena and Danka were liberated along with the rest of the camp on May 2, 1945. Their parents are believed to have been murdered in Auschwitz, and their sister Zosia's fate is unknown. Their oldest sister Gertrude immigrated to the USA in 1921. Now, with not much to turn to, the sisters traveled to Holland and worked for the Red Cross. On July 29th 1947, Rena married John Gelissen, who was the commander of a relief team that had given Rena and her sister food and shelter. In 1954, Rena and her family immigrated to Norwalk, Connecticut, and then to Hendersonville, North Carolina. A few years before, Danka and her husband Elie Brandel immigrating to the USA in 1951.

Partnered with writer Heather Dune Macadam, Rena told her moving story of surviving the Nazi concentration camps with her younger sister Danka. The story was made into a book titled 'Rena's Promise: A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz,' which was published in 1995. The book was well-received, earning her spots in numerous interviews and guest appearances.

Rena is the mother to one daughter (Sylvia) and three sons (Joseph, Peter, and Robert). She died in North Carolina in 2006, at the age of 85.

"I love because there is not enough room in my heart to hate." -- Rena Kornreich Gelissen

References

*"Rena's Promise: A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz" (1995)

External links

* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article604545.ece Times Online Obituary]
* [http://www.historyplace.com/specials/writers/promise.htm The History Place article]
* [http://www.heatherdune.com/rena.htm Article on Heather Dune Macadam's website]