Henia Ring Schiff photographs

Henia Schiff (1924-1990, née Ring) was born on 3 March 1924 in Krzepice, Poland to Zelek (Zeleg or Zalek, b. 1895) and Sarah Feige (or Sura née Watchman) Ring. Her parents married in 1919. She had at least one older sibling, Henoch (b. 1920). Krzepice was a small town that was more than 40 percent Jewish. Her father worked as a cattle trader.

After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Ring family tried unsuccessfully to flee to Warsaw. They were then sent to the newly establish ghetto in Krzepice. In 1940 she was likely in the Parzymiechy ghetto In 1941 Henia fled the ghetto after hearing that the Germans were going to deport people from the ghetto for forced-labor. She was arrested and deported to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in 1942. In 1943 she was transferred to Mauthausen. While at Mauthausen she tried to escape but was caught, beaten, and left for dead. She managed to crawl back to barracks and survived. In 1944 she was transferred to Bergen-Belsen. Henia was liberated by British troops on 15 April 1945. She recuperated in Sweden and immigrated to the United States in 1947. She settled in Oklahoma and later married Max Schiff. They had three children.

Henia’s parents and brother all perished during the Holocaust.