Timeline:
The following is a brief timeline of the key events in Magda
Herzberger's amazing life.
Feb 1926
Born in Cluj, Romania.
May 1944
Deported to Auschwitz.
July 1944
Transferred to death camp in Bremen.
March 1945
Death march to Bergen-Belsen death camp.
April 1945
Liberation of Bergen-Belsen; Magda is rescued by
a British soldier from a pile of corpses.
Mar-Apr 1945
Magda's father and uncle die in Dachau of Typhus.
July 1945
Works as nursing assistant in a Typhus hospital
in Bergen-Belsen.
Oct 1945
Reparation to hometown of Cluj; Magda finds her
mother.
June 1946
Meets Eugene Herzberger, a medical student.
Nov 1946
Admitted to medical school and marries Eugene
Herzberger.
Dec 1947
Leaves Romania with her husband Eugene
Herzberger, M.D., and her mother, traveling en route to Palestine via
Bulgaria.
Jan 1948
A ship with Magda, her family, and 7000 others
intercepted by British Navy in the Aegean Sea and diverted to Cyprus;
interned in camps near Famagusta.
Jan 1949
Leaves camps in Cyprus for newly established
State of Israel. Husband Eugene begins neurosurgical training.
Feb 1949
Son Henry is born.
Aug 1953
Husband Eugene establishes new department of
neurosurgery at Tel Hashomer Hospital in Israel.
Apr 1954
Daughter Monica is born.
Oct 1957
Leaves Israel with family for the United States.
Aug 1965
Magda and family become US citizens
Oct 1963
Begins to write poetry
1963 - Present
Publishes hundreds of poems in magazines and
anthologies; receives multiple awards.
1973
Begins lecturing about Holocaust to various
schools and other groups.
1975
Collection of love poems "Will You Still Love
Me" published by Modern Images Poets Committee, Matoon, Illinois.
1980
Collection of poems "Songs of Life" published by
Modern Images Poets Committee, Matoon, Illinois.
1981
Interviewed by Wisconsin State Historical
Society.
1982
"Eyewitness to Holocaust" published by Modern
Images Poets Committee, Matoon, Illinois.
1983
"The Waltz of the Shadows" published by
Philosophical Library, New York, NY.
1988
Interview transcribed on pages 197-234 of the
book "Sisters in Sorrow: Voices of Care in the Holocaust" by Ritvo and
Plotkin, College Station: Texas A&M University Press.
1995
Interviewed by Steven Spielberg's Shoah
Foundation; was a contributor to the Shoah newsletter for the next 3
years.
Oct 1996
"Memoirs of Magda: The Story of Magda
Herzberger" presented by Diane Plotkin, Ph.D., at Scholar's Conference,
Middle Tennessee State University.
1999 - Present
Keynote speaker for three Holocaust Memorial Day
Celebrations: Sun City, AZ where her Requiem Music was performed (2
soloist & chorus)(1999); Sun City, AZ(2005); Fullerton, CA (2006).
Apr 2005
"Survival", Magda's autobiography, is published
by Groundbreaking Press.
Jan - Feb 2006
Second, expanded edition of "The Waltz of the
Shadows", and collection of prayers "Devotional Poetry" are published.
Fall 2006
Children's book "The Tales of the Magic Forest",
and collection of love poems "If You Truly Love Me" to be released.
2007
2009
2011
2013
"If You Truly Love Me" and "The Tales of the
Magic Forest" published.
"Dreamworld" published.
"Transcript of 1980 Magda Herzberger Interview by the Wisconsin Historical Society" published.
"Midnight Musings" published.