The happiest time of my life was on the way from Terezín to Prague
Stáhnout obrázek
Hana Drori, née Pollaková, was born on 4 November 1931 in Prague into a Jewish family. She grew up in Olbramovice where her father‘s family owned a farm. Following her parents‘ divorce Hana stayed with her father in Olbramovice while her mother lived in Prague. In 1939 the family farm was confiscated and Hana followed her father to Prague. In October 1941 her mother was deported to the Lodz ghetto; in December 1941 her father went to the Terezín ghetto. Hana followed him there in July 1942. She lived in children‘s home No. L410 in care of governesses. Hana‘s father had married one of the governesses - Ella so-called Tella. In the fall of 1944 her father was deported to Auschwitz. Hana‘s and Tella‘s turn came in October 1944. After a week in Auchschwitz-Birkenau both were selected for work in the camp Oederan in Germany. From October 1944 until spring 1945 they worked in an ammunition factory. At the turn of March and April the camp was evacuated and Hana ended up in Terezín again where she lived to see liberation. In May 1945 she returned to Prague only to find out her father died shortly before the end of the war and that she was one of the few survivors from the broader family. She lived in Prague with her father‘s wife Ella Pollaková, studying at a grammar school. In 1949 she joined a Zionist group and moved to Israel. There, she settled down in HaHoterim kibbutz, worked in agriculture and started a family. In the 1970s and 1980s she and her husband lived in Africe. Hana Drori lives in Israel and makes regular visits to the Czech Republic.
