Vita on one Page

From the Forword

“Write a one-page résumé”—that was the instruction on the application forms for Shdanov University in Leningrad, which I had to fill out when I applied to study at the Faculty of Philology in 1950. A questionnaire was also included. It contained three questions that were sensitive for me: Where were you born? What is your nationality? Were you held as a prisoner by the Germans or under German occupation?

I answered truthfully: I, Evelina Moissejewna Mer, was born in Prague. I am Jewish. And: Yes. I was eleven years old when I came to be “under German occupation.” But what was I supposed to write in the resume now? On just one page?

I remember images flashing before my eyes—my happy childhood in Prague, life in Room 28 of the Theresienstadt ghetto, the family camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the labor camps at Stutthof, Dörbeck, Guttau, the death of my parents, my sister, and my closest relatives, the liberation, my encounter with Dr. Mer, the end of the war in Sysran, and my new life in Leningrad… Should I write about this? What should I write about at all? I suspected that my actual life story would not meet the expectations of the commission that had to decide on my application....

Photo: Evelina Mer, née Landová, around 1946 in Leningrad.

Childhood 1930-1945

Evelina Merová was born on 25 December 1930 in Prague as Evelina Landová, called Eva. She was eight years old when Nazi Germany accupied her homeland on 15 March 1939 and her life turned upside down.

In July 1942, she was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. There she lived until December 1943 in Room 28, L 410 in Theresienstadt. She is one of the survivors of this group , whose story became internationally known through the book and exhibition The Girls of Room 28.

In December 1943, Evelina was forced onto a transport. She was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. There she lived for over half a year in the children’s block organized by Fredy Hirsch in the Theresienstadt family camp.

In July 1944, she survived the final selection. Further horrible months followed in Stutthof, Dörbeck and Guttau. There she was liberated by the Russian armee and, severly wounded, brought to a hospital in Deutsch-Eylau, then on a train to Sysran. On the way she met the Russian military doctor Dr. Mer. When he realized that Eva had lost her entire family, he offered her a new home - in Leningrad.

There, on September 1, 1945, a new life began for Evelina as the adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mer.

Photo: Evelina Landa around 1940 © Private collection of Evelina Merová

New Identity. Leningrad /St. Petersburg

But Evelina’s story doesn’t end there. “The Little Victories”—that’s what she calls the second part of her memoirs, in contrast to the first part, which she titles “The Great Defeats.” Life in a foreign country, with a new identity, with adoptive parents who wanted to raise “their child” according to their own ideas, the new language she had to learn—all of this confronted Evelina with major challenges. How she overcame these challenges, how she built and lived her new life while never forgetting her beloved hometown of Prague—we learn through her fascinating report on actually 144 pages.

Photo: Evelina with her husband Sioma Naimark. ©Private collection of Evelina Merová

Sehnsuchtsort Prag

For many years, her beloved hometown of Prague was the focal point of Evelina’s hope and longing, but it was also synonymous with everything she, the sole survivor of the Holocaust in her family,had lost.

After her husband’s death and when her son Viktor Naimark moved to Frankfurt am Main, she returned to her old home in 1995. For many years, she commuted between the three cities, regularly visiting her daughter in St. Petersburg and her son in Frankfurt am Main. In her last years she lived in Prage, where she died on 8 February 2024.

Viktor Naimarks Hommage an seine Mutter

The Epilogue that Viktor Naimark wrote for his mother's book inspired Jürgen and Catia Walter to make a film that connects the extraordinary work of art by Viktor with his wonderful epilogue.