The Holocaust’s youngest survivors: born in a labor camp, on a death train, and in a concentration camp

The Holocaust's Youngest Survivors: Born in a Labor Camp, on a Death Train, and in a Concentration Camp

The Holocaust s youngest survivors - This piece was revised on February 15, 2026, following new insights and interviews. The original video can be accessed through the provided link. As the 80th year of World War II’s conclusion in Europe approached in May 2025, the liberation of the final Nazi concentration camps was commemorated. Despite the passage of nearly a century, the narrative of Holocaust survival continues to unfold, as evidenced by the extraordinary story of three individuals who were born during the war’s darkest hours.

Surviving Against All Odds

These three survivors—Eva Clarke, Hana Berger-Moran, and Mark Olsky—were born in April 1945, just months before Germany’s surrender. At the time of their birth, they were held captive by the Nazis, yet their existence defied the systematic eradication of Jewish life. Their mothers, who were pregnant when transported to Auschwitz, managed to conceal their condition, risking their lives to give birth to children who would later become living testaments to the Holocaust’s atrocities.

"Everyone keeps calling you the babies," Lesley Stahl remarked during an interview. "Are you okay with that?"

Their responses were unhesitating: "Yes," Mark Olsky said, while Hana Berger-Moran and Eva Clarke echoed his sentiment. "We're proud of it," Clarke added, reflecting on the bittersweet legacy of their survival. Born in April 1945, their birth dates were not just milestones but acts of defiance against the Nazis’ grim agenda. Their mothers had been sent to Auschwitz in 1944, where pregnancy was considered a punishable crime. Yet, through cunning and courage, they navigated the horrors of the camp to ensure their children’s survival.

Mothers’ Lives Before the War

Their stories trace back to the early 1940s, when their mothers were young Jewish women living in Poland and Czechoslovakia. Eva Clarke’s mother, Anka, hailed from Czechoslovakia, where she and her husband operated a modest café. Hana Berger-Moran’s mother, Priska, shared the same homeland, while Mark Olsky’s mother, Rachel, was from Poland. Each woman lived in a world on the brink of collapse as war engulfed Europe.

"My dear late mother grew up in a small town. Her parents were owners of a little Jewish café," Hana Berger-Moran explained. "She had eight siblings, and the family was close-knit."

Mark’s mother, Rachel, had been raised in a textile manufacturing town, while Eva’s mother, Anka, lived near Prague. Anka’s passion for swimming was notable, as she had once won the junior backstroke championship for her entire country. Lesley Stahl marveled at this fact, asking, "For the whole country?" Anka’s daughter, Eva, confirmed, "Yes, for the whole country, yeah."

These young women’s lives were marked by the early stirrings of war. As Europe spiraled into conflict, they fell in love with their future husbands. Hana’s father was a journalist, and Mark’s father was a man whose identity remained obscured by the trauma of the war. Rachel, Mark’s mother, shared only fragments of her husband’s story with her grandson, Charlie Olsky.

"She told me that I looked like him. I said, 'Really?' And she said, 'But that’s it. He was so elegant. You’re nothing like him,' " Charlie recounted.

Despite the uncertainty of their lives, these women found love in the chaos. Their marriages, however, were soon tested by the Nazi regime’s relentless pursuit of Jewish lives. The arrival of German soldiers in Warsaw disrupted their fledgling relationships, seizing their homes and forcing them into the streets. "They took my grandparents in 1942," Hana said, "and my aunt in 1943. It was a nightmare from the start."

Concealing Pregnancy in Auschwitz

As the war escalated, the Nazis began rounding up Jews in Ghettos, sending them to camps. Mark’s parents endured the Warsaw and Lodz Ghettos, while Eva’s were transported to Terezin, a Czech camp where she was conceived in violation of camp rules. "To become pregnant in a concentration camp was a crime," Eva Clarke stated, emphasizing the Nazis’ intent to destroy Jewish populations.

"Lesley Stahl: For a Jewish person to get pregnant was a crime? Eva Clarke: A crime, because they were trying to murder every member of the Jewish people."

By mid-1944, the pace of extermination had intensified. The three mothers, each pregnant with a child, were crammed into freight cars bound for Auschwitz. Hana’s mother, Priska, recounted the journey: "They were sitting in the train on the floor. My mother said, 'If it’s a girl, it’s going to be Hana. If it’s a boy, it will be Michael.'"

The arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau was a harrowing spectacle. Families were torn apart, with mothers, children, and the elderly often sent directly to the gas chambers. Yet, these three women managed to survive the initial selection process, hidden from the Nazis’ sight. Their secret pregnancies were a beacon of hope, a testament to human resilience in the face of despair.

Birth in the Shadow of Death

Delivered in the shadow of the camp’s death chambers, their births were miraculous. Hana’s mother, Priska, spoke of the moment she gave birth: "They knew nothing of the camp’s brutality, but the fear was palpable. My mother was determined to protect her child, even as she faced the threat of execution."

Their survival was not just a personal triumph but a collective one. These infants, born in the heart of the Holocaust, represented the possibility of renewal. Today, at 80 years old, they stand as living reminders of the sacrifices made to preserve life. Their stories, though unique, are intertwined by the shared experience of a world that had nearly been erased.

As the war ended, the survivors emerged from the camps, carrying the weight of their pasts but also the promise of a future. Their births, like the survival of the Holocaust itself, were acts of defiance against annihilation. Through their mothers’ courage and the randomness of fate, these three individuals became symbols of hope, embodying the enduring spirit of humanity in the face of unimaginable suffering.