999 prisoners

On March 25, 1942, almost a thousand young Slovak Jewish girls - including many teenagers - boarded a train in Poprá. Full of adventure and patriotism, they waved goodbye to their parents in their best clothes. They were told that they would only go for a few months, work in a factory, in the service of their government, but instead they were sent straight to Auschwitz. Slovakia paid the Germans 500 imperial marks (about HUF 60,000 in today's value) per person in order to take over the free labor. The child girls sent to almost certain death were not resisters or prisoners of war - and they were vulnerable not only because of their Jewish origin, but also because of their femaleness. They suffered horrible humiliations in inhumane conditions, while they saw their family members and loved ones die. Only a few of the 999 innocent girls survived. Their story comes to life in the interpretation of the acclaimed writer Heather Dune Macadam, who conducted personal interviews with several survivors, consulted with historians, spoke with eyewitnesses and relatives of the deportees. Her work depicts the Holocaust and an important episode in women's history. About the author: Heather Dune Macadam's first book, Rena's Promise: A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz, co-written with survivor Rena Kornreich Gelissen, has been published in several countries. As the president and director of Rena's Promise Foundation, Heather actively fights against the phenomenon of Holocaust denial. He is a member of the board of trustees of the organization Cities of Peace: Auschwitz, and he is the director and producer of the documentary 999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz. He was recognized for his activities by the Israeli and English centers of Yad Vashem, the USC Soá Foundation, the Bratislava Jewish History Museum, and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.