Fiala, Adler, and Fixler families collection

Mark Fiala was born Meyer Fromowitz on July 16, 1915, in Berezovo, Czechoslovakia, to Yehoshua and Esther (née Adler) Fromowitz. He was one of many siblings, including sisters Chaya, Basya, Yenta, and brother Alex. Prior to World War II, he married a first cousin, Chaya Ruchel Adler (also known as Ruzena). The couple had two children, Ester (born August 20, 1940) and David (born April 13, 1942). Chaya, Ester, and David all perished in the Holocaust. After the war, Meyer changed his name to Mark Fiala, and married Lenka (later Lilli) Fixler on May 11, 1946. The couple emigrated to Israel in 1949 and had two children: Ava (b. 1947) and Jerry (b. 1954). They all emigrated to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1958.

Lenka Fiala was born Lilli Fixler on March 20, 1924 in Tačovo (now Ukraine), to Yehuda and Ester Fixler. Yehuda had children from a previous marriage: Iczik, Ira, Jankel, Shalom, Henrick, and Helen. Together, Yehuda and Ester had eleven children: Eliezer, Mordchaj, Simon, Leopold, Lilli, Blanka, Eva, Zelig, Majer, and Henje. Of the children, Iczik and his wife Fani, Jankel, Henrick, Helen and her husband Jeno and daughter Eva, Mordchaj, Zelig, Majer, and Henje were all murdered in the Holocaust. Leopold (Leo) Fixler escaped to England and joined the British Army. He later emigrated to Cleveland and brought the surviving members of his family over after the war. After the war, Lenka changed her name to Lilli and on May 11, 1946, married Mark Fiala. The couple emigrated to Israel in 1949 and had two children: Ava (b. 1947) and Jerry.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ava Sigman

Ava Sigman donated this collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015