Romana Primus photographs

Romana Strochlitz Primus was born on August 3, 1946 in Bergen-Belsen to Holocaust survivors Ruzka (Rose, 1918-2001) and Sigmund Sztrochlic (1917-2006). Sigmund was born in Będzin, Poland in 1917 to Herman and Regina Sztrochlic. He attended Hebrew high school and Jagiellonian University, but his studies were interrupted by World War II. He escaped to the Soviet Zone of Poland, but returned to Będzin shortly after to be with his family. In August 1943, the family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where his parents, sister (Ester, 1919-1943), and first wife (Sabka) were murdered upon arrival. Sigmund spent 15 months in Auschwitz-Birkenau. At the end of the war, he survived a death march to Bergen-Belsen in Germany, which was liberate by the British in April 1945. It was in Bergen-Belsen after the war that he married Rose Grinberg. Rose was born in Slomniki, Poland on October, 9, 1918. Rose and Sigmund Sztrochlic immigrated to New York in 1951. The family settled in New London, CT. Sigmund worked with Elie Wiesel to help establish the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and led the way to establish the annual “day of remembrance.”

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Romana Strochlitz Primus in 1999.