Béla Weichherz diaries

Béla (born Vojtech, 1892-1942) Weichherz was born in Čadca, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) and had seven siblings: Hugo, Martin, Gyula, Ninka, Josephine, Lotti and Malvine. He worked as a traveling salesman for the Philips Company and lived in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia). Béla married Esti (born Estera, 1899 -1942) and they had a daughter, Kitty (born Katharina, 1929-1942). After Kitty's birth Béla kept a diary of his daughter's life. He recorded everything that happened to her and charted her progress and development. Kitty grew up speaking four languages: German, Slovak, Hungarian and Czech and did not identify as Jewish. Béla also wrote about the political changes happening around him. Following the German occupation of the Sudetenland, anti-Jewish propaganda flourished and Kitty had to leave her public school and move to a Jewish school. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, Béla lost his job and the family moved back to Čadca. Kitty attended a Jewish school and Béla received a working permit and started working at Rudolf Vaculik. In March 1942 the Germans began deportations from C̆adca, and Béla, Esti, and Kitty were sent to a concentration camp where they perished. They are believed to have been deported to the Sobibór concentration camp.