Biography
Judith Landshut's mother, Gertruda Sternlichtova, was a first cousin of Kitty Weichherz. Prior to the start of the World War II, Bela and his wife Esti lived in Bratislava where he worked as a traveling salesman for the Philips Company. Bela's parents and some of his siblings remained in Cadca, and the family visited them regularly. After Kitty's birth in December 1929, Bela Weichherz kept a diary of his daughter's life until her deportation. He reported everything important that happened to Kitty and charted her progress and development. Kitty grew up speaking four languages: German, Slovak Hungarian and Czech. She did not have much Jewish identity as a young child and considered herself to be purely Slovak. However, following occupation of the Sudetenland, anti-Jewish propaganda flourished in Slovakia, particularly in cities with a strong German influence such as Bratislava. Kitty had to leave her Slovak public school and move to the Jewish Neologan-school. After Germany occupied Slovakia, Bela lost his job. That August the family moved to Cadca since they no longer had a source of income. There, Kitty attended the local Jewish school. In June 1941 the Germans began arresting Jews from Cadca and in July the remaining Jewish males were forced into labor, Kitty's father among them. However, he was able to receive a working permit and started working for the company Rudolf Vaculik. In March 1942 Slovakia began deporting its Jewish population to the extermination camps in Poland. The last entry in Kitty's diary reads: "I only wish that we can go together. Esti [his wife] is feeling weak and afraid and she won't be able to support herself. Kitty is strong for her age but one would like to help a child in a situation like this." Kitty and all of her immediate family perished.
The two diaries were hidden during WWII. A now unknown person recovered them and gave them to Malvine Pollak (nee Weichherz), the sister of Bela Weichherz. The Weichherz family had 8 children, 4 boys and 4 girls: Hugo, Martin, Bela, Gyula, Ninka, Josephine, Lotti and Malvine. The diaries were given to Gertruda Sternlichtova (Malvine Pollak's daugher) in the 1980s, who then gave them to her daughter Judith Landshut, asking her to good care of them.
