Mala Zimetbaum devoted herself to help the prisoners at Auschwitz. She was born in Poland in 1918 but she was a Belgian women. She was the youngest of five children. Mala was sent to the camp Auschwitz- Birkenau for nearly two years. Her role was an interpreter and courier because she was very intelligent and spoke French, Dutch, German, Polish and Italian. Mala negotiated with the inmates for them to …show more content…
Edek and Mala were both taken out to be executed at the same time, respectively in men’s and women’s camps. Right away Edek put the noose around his neck without hesitation but the guard took it off and he just stood on the chair. Then, the noose was put around his neck once more and yelled out “Long Live Poland” as the guard tipped the stool. Prisoner took off their hats to show respect. Meanwhile, Mala had taken a razor blade out from her hair and slit her veins on the inside of her elbows. She then slapped a guard’s face with her bloody hand. He grabbed her arm and broke it as camp staff jumped on her, knocking her to the ground and taping her mouth shut. A SS officer named Maria Mandel said an order had come in from Berlin to burn Mala alive. She was put in a wheelbarrow while nurses were bandaging her to make her die as quickly as possible. She then said weakly to some assembled prisoners, “ The day of reckoning is near.” On her way to the crematorium she told the women pulling the wheelbarrow she knew she could have survived, but she chose not to because she wanted to follow what she believed in. She died on her way to the crematorium. Prisoners were later informed that Mala was arriving and they made special preparations. They prayed and cried as they burned her remains and the news spread throughout the