70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz,"The Last 500," and a Tribute to all Mothers

The 70th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz brings to mind a group of families, 500 slave laborers designated as metal workers from the Lodz Ghetto. that are believed by scholars to be the only group that survived the death camp in tact with young babies, as described in “Walk Forward," in Ebook and paperback on Amazon.com. However, women and children were taken from this group later in concentration camp Stutthof and at least two members of the group continue to be unaccounted for.

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Going beyond what happened to Jews, German born Rosa Raskin (nee Chimowicz) describes the life of Christians in Germany during the Second World War and her lifelong search for her older sister in “Walk Forward,” a different Schindler's list. What Raskin has found since publishing "Walk Forward," is intriguing. Although she has not found new information on her sister, she found the grave of an Uncle Leo Chimowicz, her father's youngest brother, in the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague. His three young sons were with her sister and were sent back to Auschwitz for a final time on September 10, being murdered on September 11, 1944. Through a new contact in Germany, she found the son of a replacement of some taken at Stutthof. The son wrote a book about his mother and lives in Canada. Most important, Raskin found a lady in the USA who was on the journey and three years older than her 9 year old, blond-haired sister. The lady's granddaughter published an incredible book entitled "Through Eva'a Eyes." Raskin visited her new found friend and felt it was her once in a lifetime chance to get a glimpse of her sister's world from another child who was at the same place at the same time and also a member of "The Last 500."

Using letters sent to her from a newly found cousin in Israel, Raskin has detailed dates and exact facts as written by her Uncle Alfred Chimowicz, Head of Metals #1 in the Lodz Ghetto, who selected each member of "The Last 500.” Jewish family members are caught in a hellish spider's web. As pawns in the chess game between Hitler's assistants, the group designated as metal workers, survive the Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz, and Stutthof, the last place where two young Chimowicz mothers and their four children were seen alive. the fate of one mother and her three sons is on the cover of a book from the Museum of Stutthof, while the fate of her sister and her sister's mother remains a true mystery. Those who survived concentration camp Stutthof, were sent to a converted cigarette factory in Dresden to make munitions. On the burning of Dresden, they continued on a horrific death march to concentration camp Theresienstadt from which they were released by the Russian Army

On September 10, 1944, many women and children were taken from Stutthof back to Auschwitz where the 500 had come from the week before on September 3, 1944. Raskin's sister is not documented on this return trip as are her three young male cousins of the same age. Her sister, Eugenia Chimowicz, is not documented to date in any verifiable format, but Raskin has filled out memory forms at Yad Vashem and posted her name on many lists.

Born in Germany after the Holocaust, Raskin describes her endless search and promise she made to her father.

“Walk Forward” is $2.99 in ebook format and $8.99 in paperback. It was written over a periood of twenty years and many chapters stand alone as the story is an ongoing mystery. It has been very difficult to get the book into Germany where the author believes more information might exist, but is popular in the U.S. and the U.K.

A silent tribute, “We walk forward, but will never forget,” is presented in the book's video trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp7uQap6p2M.

Thanks for Joining the Search for a Lost Sister

Incredible that publishing "Walk Forward," which is one of my last hopes in finding my sister who was lost in the Shoah (Holocaust), has led me to finding a new cousin, a new friend who was with my sister on the journey in various concentration camps, and the grave of my father's beloved youngest brother, Leo Chimowicz, in the "New Jewish Cemetery" in Prague.

I wish to thank the many readers in the UK, USA, and Australia who have not only read "Walk Forward," but have sent leads. I am grateful for the help in the search for my lost sister and any and all information leading to more information. I am impatiently waiting for the results of DNA testing as my father said, "If anyone comes to you one day and says she is your sister, you must believe her." My sister lives on in the book and in your hearts. Many thanks to those of you who have taken the time to read each of the chapters in "A different kind of Schindler's List," my lifelong search for my lost sister.

"Walk Forward" is not one story, but a series of chapters put together over a 20 year period, with the hope that if my sister is out there, she will read the book, and feel confident in contacting me. Each chapter is merely a piece of the complex puzzle. If my older sister, Eugenia (Genia) Chimowicz, is not out there, the book keeps her memory alive along with her young cousins. The 1.5 million children who were robbed of their childhood and systematically murdered, having been born at a wrong time and in the wrong place, have nothing to be remembered by, but perhaps a book, book trailer, or a movie.

No matter what you read or how incredible it might seem, we do not yet know the fate of my sister, Eugenia Chimowicz, a beautiful 9 year old, with blond hair and blue eyes. We have no proof to date that she was murdered in 1944. My father did not believe that his firstborn was killed, he did not declare his child as "dead," and he did not light a memory candle for her. She lived in his heart and survives in the minds of her three younger sisters, each lucky to have been born after the Second World War.

We have discovered some encouraging facts;  Eugenia was the only blond-haired girl in the group now called, "The Last 500," and not everyone's hair was shaved off in concentration camp Auschwitz.