Message:
As I was researching on the ITS, I found out that the fate of Estera Lea was linked to the one Jenny Zavatsky, born Tabakschmecker.
According to the document I found, Jenny is born on 25/3/1932 and her parents are Szmul and Rywka. With the information we already have, we can conclude that Jenny Zavatsky is the sister of Estera Lea.
When I looked into the USC Shoah Foundation Institution Testimonies, I found that Jenny Zavatsky did a testimony in 1995.
I requested the testimony and I watched it to get more information about Estera Lea.
At the very beginning of the testimony, Jenny confirms that her parents are Szmul and Rywka and she says she has a sister named “Lola”, that is 9 years older than her. This would mean that Lola would be born in 1923. This matches with our previous researches. Lola and Estera Lea is the same person.
She also says that she had one brother, Meir, who died in the ghetto.
Jenny and Lola’s father owned a metal factory before the WWII and that is why he worked as a skilled worker in the metal factory of the ghetto during the WWII.
In August 1944, the whole family (Rywka, Szmul, Lola and Jenny) were sent to the concentration camp of Auschwitz where no selection was made.
They stayed in Auschwitz one week before being sent to Stutthof.
They stayed in Stutthof for around 3 months before the German sent the entire family to Dresden where the factory of Szmul was being transferred. This would mean they would be transferred to in November 1944. This matches with the information we found that they were in a transport from Stutthof to Dresden that arrived on 28/11/1944.
Jenny says that they worked in a former cigarettes factory transformed in an ammunition factory. 3 weeks after their arrival in Dresden, Szmul died. He was already weakened by the very harsh conditions of Stutthof. On one of the document from the ITS, it is said that Szmul died on 18/12/1944 in Dresden-Bernsdorf. This matches with the testimony of Jenny Savatsky.
During the bombing of Dresden from 13/2/1945 to 15/2/1945, their factory was bombed and partially destroyed. During a few days, Lola, Jenny and Rywka had to live in the cellar of one of the buildings near the factory. Lola developed a real high fever what Jenny described as a scarlet fever in the testimony and Lola finally died.
A few days later, Jenny and her mother were forced to a “Death March”. They finally were liberated by the Russians near Prague, Czech Republic.
The testimony of Jenny Zavatsky confirms the information you found in the book of Andrzej Strzelecki.
