Magda Hellinger [part 1]: The Auschwitz Prisoner Who Saved Lives Through Compassion

Magda Hellinger was one of the longest-surviving Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz, where she risked her own life to help others through compassion and courage. Born in 1916 in Michalovce, Slovakia, Magda was a Jewish kindergarten teacher and youth leader when the Holocaust changed her life forever during the Second World War. In 1942, despite having protective papers, she was deported to Auschwitz by the Slovak Hlinka Guard—betrayed by a local Nazi collaborator. She was just 25 when she arrived in the notorious death camp, as part of the first official transport of Jewish women.Told they were going to work in a factory, the women instead faced dehumanizing torture: chemical baths, head shaving, and filthy clothing. Magda, however, would go on to survive for three years in Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the longest durations of any Jewish prisoner, by using her skills, compassion, and intelligence to help others. She comforted girls who went mad from trauma, intervened in dangerous situations, and quietly saved lives. Despite the brutal camp system designed to strip all humanity, Magda found ways to resist through dignity and solidarity.Her story also reveals the dark role played by Slovak collaborators like President Tiso and the Hlinka Guard, who deported over 70,000 Slovak Jews—many for a fee of 500 Reichsmarks per person. Nearly all were murdered. Magda Hellinger lived to tell her story, one of rare moral courage inside Auschwitz, where she led with quiet strength. She stands as a symbol of survival, compassion, and resistance against one of history’s darkest regimes.This episode is part of the series Survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi Persecution.Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at:WorldHistory.tv