Born in Hell: A Miracle Baby's Holocaust Survival

Ilana Kantorowicz Shalem, now 81, is sharing her remarkable story as one of the youngest Holocaust survivors. She was born in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on March 19, 1945, just 30 days before its liberation by British forces. Her mother, Lola, managed to conceal her pregnancy, a feat that saved both their lives in a camp ravaged by starvation and death.

Shalem's parents met as teenagers in the Tomaszow Ghetto in Poland. They endured labor camps and separation, with her father eventually perishing on a death march just before the war's end. Lola Kantorowicz survived Auschwitz and labor camps before a death march to Bergen-Belsen while pregnant.

To avoid certain death, Lola hid her advanced pregnancy, foregoing any assistance to avoid discovery. Her survival and the birth of a healthy baby in such dire conditions, where corpses were mountains high, remains an almost unbelievable feat. Mother and daughter spent a month in Bergen-Belsen before moving to a displaced persons camp and later to Israel.

In the displaced persons camp, baby Ilana was a rarity, cherished by many as a symbol of hope. She is unaware of any other children born within Bergen-Belsen itself who survived. As International Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, marked annually on January 27th, Shalem's story gains urgency, highlighting the dwindling number of survivors, estimated at around 196,600 globally, with a median age of 87.