Mala Zimetbaum Essay

“I shall die a heroine, but you shall die like a dog.”, Mala Zimetbaum spoke these words right before her death in 1944. Mala was a victim of the Holocaust all because she was a fifteen-year-old Jewish girl. She saved so many but was sentenced to death at twenty-six. Mala Zimetbaum’s life before the Holocaust was good with her family, but when the Holocaust started her life changed forever, significantly when it ended.

Preparatory to the Holocaust Mala Zimetbaum had an everyday life. “Mala Zimetbaum was born on January 26, 1918-1922, in Brzesko, Poland, the fifth and youngest daughter of Pinhas and Chaya Zimetbaum.” (Jewish Women’s Encyclopedia). She had a lot of family and support in everything she did. Her family was very kind and sweet to Mala and was very proud of her because she was a great student in school; as a child, she excelled in mathematics and was fluent in several languages. “In 1928 when she was ten, her family emigrated from Poland to Belgium, where they settled in Antwerp.” (Jewish Women Encyclopedia). She was so youthful when she had to move

Mala, when the Nazi soldiers caught her, was sentenced to death in front of the public. Even though she saved thousands, just because she was a Jew she was sentenced to death at twenty-six. Before she was supposed to be executed on August 22, 1944, she got a hold of a blade and slit her wrists. She hated the Nazis so much that she decided to take her own life rather than have the Nazis take her life. “Mala and Edward were taken out to be hanged in a public execution at the same time, in the men's and women's camps respectively.” (Jewish Virtual Library) Even though they were supposed to be hung respectfully because they were Jews nobody respected them. All this because they tried to live out their lives and be free. Mala was miserable there so she decided not to deal with it anymore but she only would’ve had to wait one year to be