Eva Clarke and Mark Olsky, two of the youngest known Holocaust survivors, drew a crowd of just under 1,000 people to the Maltz Performing Arts Center in Cleveland, where they described being born into unimaginable circumstances in the final days of World War II. Both 81, Clarke and Olsky shared the stage for a program presented by the Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation, recounting how their mothers hid pregnancies from Nazi captors and gave birth as the war was winding down.
According to the Cleveland Jewish News, the community program featured Clarke and Olsky sharing their Holocaust survival stories, with Gov. Mike DeWine delivering a video message to the audience. DeWine’s message was part of the program, per that same report. A third survivor, Hana Berger Moran, also 81, could not travel to Cleveland because of health issues and instead participated by prerecorded video message, the outlet reported.
Author Wendy Holden, who chronicled the trio’s origins in her 2015 book “Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and Their Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope,” moderated the discussion with Clarke and Olsky. The Cuyahoga County Public Library had announced the in-person event eight days earlier, saying it was honored to welcome Clarke, Berger Moran and Olsky for the Oct. 21 program, which was set for 7 p.m. at the Maltz Performing Arts Center at Case Western Reserve University.
Born on a Cart, a Coal Train and a Factory Floor
The three mothers endured forced labor and harsh conditions in Nazi camps and concealed their pregnancies to avoid being killed, per the Cleveland Jewish News report. Anka Bergman gave birth to Eva Clarke on a cart at the gates of Mauthausen concentration camp, while Rachel Friedman gave birth to Mark Olsky on the floor of a transportation coal train and Priska Löwenbein gave birth to Hana Berger Moran on a makeshift board in a factory, according to the same account.
Clarke, Berger Moran and Olsky were all born in April 1945, and the three mothers and their babies survived until American forces liberated them on May 5, 1945, the Cleveland Jewish News reported. Separate reporting from the Imperial War Museums states that Clarke was born at Mauthausen on April 29, 1945, and was one of only three babies born there who survived the Holocaust.
At the Cleveland program, Clarke recounted how her mother hid her pregnancy while held in a Nazi camp, the Cleveland Jewish News reported. Berger Moran also appeared in a prerecorded video message, according to the same account. Olsky spoke at the program, the outlet reported.
A Decades-Long Journey From Discovery to the Stage
Holden discovered Clarke’s story in Cambridge, England, and Clarke later told Holden there were two other babies who survived the Holocaust alongside their mothers. Holden traveled to meet the other survivors, per the Cleveland Jewish News. Holden has said the survivors’ survival was miraculous, the outlet reported. The three survivors first met in person at a 2010 ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of Mauthausen’s liberation, according to The Times of Israel, and they returned to Austria together that year, 65 years after liberation, per Yahoo.
Their story has since reached a national audience. CBS’ “60 Minutes” featured the three survivors in February, with reporter Lesley Stahl interviewing the trio, the Cleveland Jewish News reported. The same outlet noted that Clarke and Holden continue to travel and visit schools to speak about the Holocaust and what happened to their mothers and millions of others.
Library Leaders Frame the Event as a Community Mission
Jamar Rahming, CEO of the Cuyahoga County Public Library and president of its Foundation, and Patricia Shlonsky, president of the library’s board of trustees, were tied to the Cleveland program, according to the Cleveland Jewish News. Shlonsky said libraries bring communities together to learn and connect, the outlet reported. Admission for the event was not consistent across reports: the Cleveland Jewish News’s announcement listed $18 tickets including a copy of Holden’s book, while FreshWater Cleveland reported a $21 price for the same book-inclusive ticket.
