A HIDDEN DIARY 

The plot thickens when I find a page my mother wrote in a collective Gabersdorf diary, recently donated to Yad Vashem by a survivor’s family in Austrailia.The diary features 60 other names that form the basis of my search. Their writing offers unprecedented access to the experiences of young women in Nazi-run forced labor camps.

A MIGHTY BAND OF SISTERS

In the camp, Jewish girls became sister, resisters and saboteurs, forging a vital shield against Nazi brutality. The film features interviews with dozens of survivors of women’s camps like Gabersdorf, where my mother was imprisoned, now living in Toronto to Tel Aviv, Melbourne, Australia to Malmö, Sweden. I introduce myself as Hela’s daughter, noting a shift in my own identity. Some women are guarded, others bracingly candid, and all shine a light on the shocking traumas my mom erased from her life story. Our subjects are the last of a generation, women survivors who’ve never spoken.

© Marisa Fox ~ My Underground Mother 2025