Photograph of Fani Birnberg Ross

Fani Birnberg Ross was born on November 11, 1922 in Gwozdziec, Poland (now in the Soviet Ukraine) Her father, Josef Birnberg was a farmer and businessman and her mother, Frieda Greenberg Birnberg worked as a housewife. In 1939 attended college in Lvov, Poland. After the Nazis invaded the territory in 1941 she returned to her family in Gwozdziec. There she was hidden during the deportations of Jews. When she was tranferred to Kolomyja, Poland (now in the Soviet Ukraine)where she worked on a baron's farm. When they were deported from Kolomyja she jumped off the train with her cousins and friends and escaped taking refuge with a farmer before her aunt found her. She later stayed temporarily with nuns. Disguising herself as an Aryan, she got a job working as a nanny and housekeeper for an SS physician, Werner Dietrich. She left his employ when he demanded to see her papers. She next worked at the police station before being employed by an SS officer named Doppler in Radom, Poland. Because of her work she was commended and received a letter from Adolf Hitler stating, "Through your behavior, hard work, honest orphan, you are commended." In 1944 she traveled with a friend to the Black Forest in Germany. In April of 1945 the French liberated her in Schramberg, Germany. Because she had attained Aryan papers while she worked for the SS officer Doppler, she had difficulty proving her Jewish ancestry after the war. A French Rabbi made it clear to authorities after she spoke Hebrew with him. She emigrated to the United States in the 1950s. Her mother, father, and sister Berta, all were killed during the war.