Tisha B'Av (The Ninth of Av) is a day of mourning and fasting. The holiday commemorates various tragedies that befell the Jewish people throughout history, particularly the destruction of the first and second Temples in 586 BCE and 70 CE.

In her testimony, Holocaust survivor Edith Reifer recalls fasting on Tisha B’av while imprisoned at Krakau-Plaszow labor camp.

Edith Reifer was 17 when she and her family were sent from their home in Sárospatak, Hungary to the Satoraljaujhely ghetto in April 1944. She was separated from her family at Auschwitz II-Birkenau six weeks later and endured months of forced labor while imprisoned at Krakau-Plaszow labor camp, Auschwitz II-Birkenau death camp, and Markkleeberg labor camp. Edith was liberated by Soviet armed forces after a 17-day death march to the Theresienstadt ghetto. She was the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust.

Edith shared her testimony with us in 1997. You can watch her full testimony on YouTube.