The Girls of Room 28, Theresienstadt As Meninas do Quarto 28

Exhibition

As Meninas do Quarto 28

English | Brazilian

Remembering Erika

Erika Stránská (1930-1944)

Little was known about Erika Stránská (1930-1944), a Czech girl who lived in Room 28 for one and a half year. In May 1944 she was deported to Auschwitz where she was killed.

The survivors remember a fine and quiet girl who loved art classes with Friedl Dicker-Brandeis. She made lovely paintings. Some of her former roomates remember that she was related to a Czech artist. Now we know it was the Alexander Brandeis (1848-1901), a patron of the arts and a friend of leading Czech artists. .

In Helga's Diary we find traces of Erika's life in Theresienstadt. For a while the girls felt very close to each other and went to concerts together. In May 1944 their ways parted.

Discovery

In 2012 the younger half-sister of Erika, Monika Zolko, who lives in São Paulo, found out about the book 'The Girls of Room 28" and saw that Erika was part of the community in Room 28. Her grand-daughet wrote an Email to me.

Learning about the exhibition, Monika's daughter Karen Zolko decided to adopt the original exhibition and to bring it to Brazil in a new design - in remembrance of Erika and her friends from Room 28, who did not survive the Holocaust.

Late Echo from Brazil

In 2013 two new panels were created for display in the European Commission in Brussels.

New panel of the English version of the exhibition, created for display in January 2013, in the European Commission, Brussels.

Youtube Film: Monika

Monika with her older sister Erika around 1941

Film-document, around 1943

In 1942 the nazis took away Monika's father and other family members, also her sister Erika Stránsky. Monika and her mother went to live in the little Czech village of Bozkov. Her father managed to escape the camp where he was deported to work and reunited with his family in Bozkov. He had a camera and made a film which you can see on Youtube:

Postcards to the Girls