Wilhelm was born on 21 December 1929 in Szombathely, Hungary near the Austrian border.
Wilhelm was a member of a group of Holocaust survivors known as the Boys, despite the fact the group consisted of over 200 girls.
The Boys were teenage and child-Holocaust survivors, who were brought to the UK after World War II for rest and rehabilitation.
Members of the Boys were held in Nazi labour and concentration camps and used as slave labourers, they had also survived World War II in hiding or as lone children.
Wilhelm’s parents were Sandor and Berta and she had four sisters.
The Nazis occupied Hungary in March 1944.
Wilhelm was deported to Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland on 7 July 1944. On 18 August 1944, she was transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. She was moved to the Allendorf-Münchmühle subcamp on 17 August 1944.
After liberation, she was housed at the Föhrenwald-Wolfratshausen DP camp in Germany.
Wilhelm arrived in the UK in October 1945 as part of the second group of the Boys.
She spent time at the Wintershill Hall reception centre.
Edith Wilhelm’s Journey 1944-1948
Pre-war Life: Szombathely, Hungary. Forced Journey: → Deportation to Auschwitz II-Birkenau → Buchenwald concentration camp → Allendorf-Münchmühle subcamp of Buchenwald → Liberation Unknown. After liberation: → Föhrenwald-Wolfratshausen DP → Joins 2nd Group of the Boys → Wintershill Hall reception centre, Hampshire UK.
A New Life
She sailed from Genoa to Australia on the Luciana Manara on 11 April 1949.
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