Eva Novotna (F / Czechia, 1938), Holocaust survivor

Eva Novotna (F / Czechia, 1938), Holocaust survivor

• KEYWORDS : <Czechia> <Hidden Children>

Yad Vashem

Eva Novotna was born in December 1938 in Prague. When she was three months old, the Germans occupied Bohemia and Moravia. Since her father was Jewish, the little baby was also registered as Jewish.

Eva's parents, Vlasta and Kurt Beer, were staunch communists, and after the occupation became active in the underground. In March 1941 both parents were arrested. The father committed suicide, and the mother was released, but only for a short while. In the summer of 1942 she was arrested again and sent to Auschwitz. Four-year-old Eva, who was now without parents, was moved from one place to another until Milena Herbenova proposed to take care of her. Eva stayed with Milena until liberation, when her mother returned from the camp.

Under occupation the whereabouts of every Jew, including small children, had to be registered. Sheltering a Jewish child without notifying the authorities was extremely dangerous. Milena’s husband too had been arrested and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Being the wife of a political enemy put Milena and her son, Milan, in a hazardous situation and hiding a Jeiwsh child only enhanced the danger in which they found themselves. In addition, due to Eva's illegal status, no ration cards were issued for her. Despite the hardship and risks to her and to her son Milan, Milena Herbenova took loving care of her little protégé. Since Eva could not go to school, Herbenova engaged private tutors to teach the child at home.

When Eva's mother returned, she found a healthy and happy child. The close connection with the rescuer was maintained until Herbenova emigrated to the USA in 1948.

On 7 December 2003 Milena Herbenova was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Eva Notovna's Testimony

I was born on 23 December 1938 into a mixed marriage family. My father, Kurt Beer, born 15 October 1908, was a Jews, and my mother Vlasta Beerova, nee Pechinikova, born 23 February 1911, was non-Jewish. Because the marriage took place in 1938, I was considered to be a Jew under the Nuremberg Laws, and I was registered along with my father in the register of Jews - I enclose an extract, i.e. the list of names of the Prague religious community.

After the occupation of what remained of Czechoslovakia both my father and mother were active in the resistance. They were arrested for this activity in March 1941. My mother was released after 10 days and my father was transferred to Zwickau and from there, in September 1941, to Dresden. There he committed suicide on 25 September 1941, after being subjected to harsh interrogation in connection with the arrest of his comrade Jan Krejci. My mother was arrested again in June 1942 and I was taken care of first by Jarmila Prokopova and then by Mr. and Mrs. Losan in Nova Paka.

Before Christmas 1942, Mrs. Herbenova took me to live with her. I spent the next two and a half years until liberation the subsequent return of my mother from a concentration camp with her. Mrs. Herbenova knew that I was a Jew and that my parents were imprisoned for resistance activities. I only have very vague memories of the time before I came to live with Mrs. Herbenova, but my life with her remains deeply engraved in my memory. I lived with the family and was treated like their younger daughter; I was taken care of and educated in all respects. Even though the situation under occupation was difficult, I had the life of a happy child. Because I was not able to start school on account of my concealment, I had a teacher at home from September 1944, and in June 1945 I was able to complete the first class of primary school.

I know that Mrs. Herbenova was very distressed upon my departure, and she used to visit me after the war when I was living with my mother, right up to the time she left the country.

I am aware of the fact that I survived the Nazi occupation only thanks to Mrs. Milena Herbenova.