Inge Auerbacher-American Chemist of German Origin & Holocaust Survivor

Inge Auerbacher is an American chemist of German origin. She is a survivor of the Holocaust and has published many books about her experiences in the Second World War.
Inge was the last Jewish child born in Kippenheim, a village in South-Western Germany. She was the only child of Berthold and Regina Auerbacher. Both of her parents came from observant Jewish families who had lived for many generations in Germany.
On November 10, 1938, her father and grandfather were arrested and taken away during the chaos of Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass) and sent to the Dachau concentration camp. Inge, her mother and her grandmother were able to hide in a shed during Kristallnacht and were not harmed. A few weeks later Inge's father and grandfather returned home, but her grandfather died shortly after in May, 1939 of a heart attack.
Inge’s father was a soldier in the German Army during World War I. He was wounded badly and consequently awarded the Iron Cross for service to his country. Inge’s father was a textile merchant and the family owned a large home in Kippenheim.
Auerbacher spent her childhood between the years 1942-1945, a total of 140,000 people were shipped to Terezin; 88,000 were sent primarily to the gas chambers in Auschwitz, and 35,000 died of malnutrition and disease in Terezin. Of the 15,000 children imprisoned in Terezin, Inge and her parents are among the 1% that survived. The Red Army rescued Auerbacher's family on May 8, 1945. After a short stay at Göppingen, the family immigrated to New York in May 1946. Seven years later Auerbacher obtained US citizenship. She graduated from Queens College and spent 38 years working as a chemist. In 1986, Auerbacher published her first book about her childhood's memories. It was called I am a Star.  Inge has also reached out to the African-American community by writing about her friends, Mary and Martha DeSaussure; pioneering track stars of Brooklyn in her third book, "Running Against the Wind." As a Holocaust survivor her spirit and achievements are truly remarkable.