A Tale of Survival and Loss: Malci Schickler's Story
An account of Malvine Schickler, known as Malci, and her family’s experiences during the Holocaust and its aftermath, reveals a tale of survival, resistance, and personal tragedy.
Sam Morgan
- 2024-01-06
- Updated 10:41 AM ET
(NewsNibs) - Malci Schickler, who lived in a cramped flat in Vienna's Favoriten district, was the sole member of her family to return there after World War II. Her great-nephew, a correspondent in Warsaw and Sarajevo, visited her and learned of her singing in Yiddish, a skill unbeknownst to him. Malci endured the loss of her two stepchildren, Mordechaj and Chana, many years prior and pieced together her life experiences from Vienna archives, chartsing a narrative of resilience and sorrow.
Perilous Times and Bravery
During the escalation of Jewish persecution after the Anschluss, Malci and Mordechaj fled to France to join the Austrian Liberation Front, a communist resistance faction. Malci's late husband, Elias Mayer Schickler, was an activist and war veteran, who chose to be "konfessionslos," or without religion. Malci hid during the war, and Mordechaj, who had penetrated Nazi institutions under a false identity, was imprisoned in Gurs concentration camp, only to escape with the assistance of local Basque resistors. He was later recaptured in 1944 at the Hermann Göring steelworks and perished due to the abuse endured in Gestapo custody, dying from diphtheria.
Legacy and Memory
Malci outlived her family, including Mordechaj and Chana, who after feeling betrayed by the Communist party, ended her life in Prague. In 1994, Malci passed away, but not before arranging her savings and safe deposit contents for her relatives. The author made a pilgrimage to Mordechaj's grave at Vienna's Central Cemetery in 2022, a solemn reflection on the family’s poignant history.
This narrative forms part of Julian Borger's forthcoming book, "I Seek a Kind Person: My Father, Seven Children and the Adverts that Helped Them Escape the Holocaust," detailing his family's odyssey from Vienna to safety, aided by the Manchester Guardian adverts. This historical account sheds light on individual stories amidst the horrors of war and the enduring impacts of family bonds across generations.
