Community member Judy Jacobs recently published “Jutka: A Holocaust Survivor’s Account of Lives Destroyed and Family Rebuilt,” a memoir about her experiences during the Holocaust.
Judy Jacobs, born Judit Gondos and nicknamed “Jutka” in Hungarian, was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1937. During World War II, as a seven-year-old, she spent six months in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
In her book, Jacobs writes of the lingering effects of virulent antisemitism in Hungary, the wartime occupation of Budapest, and her time in the camp.
“Three of my grandparents were murdered in the Auschwitz gas chambers, their bodies incinerated in the crematoria,” Jacobs wrote. “In spite of these recollections, I asked myself what I could, or should, do to help avert such tragedies in the future? I acknowledge that my small contribution is to provide eyewitness testimony. I am a Holocaust survivor. I observed many Nazis atrocities. I am able to substantiate, or add, to the historical record. That’s why I wrote this book.”
After the war, Jacobs and her parents moved to the United States. She met her husband, David (of blessed memory), at the University of Michigan. They moved to Kansas City in 1963 and raised four children. Jacobs earned a Ph.D. and worked as a pathology practice business manager.
Jacobs now has eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, and she lives in Overland Park, Kansas.
For many years, Judy has spoken publicly to groups interested in hearing about the Holocaust. In recognition of her efforts, the University of Missouri-Kansas City bestowed her with the Defying the Odds Award in 2016.
“The camps and crematoria are now gone, but hate, discrimination and violence — even genocide — continue,” Jacobs wrote. “Antisemitism continues. I am truly thankful for the wonderful life this country has afforded me. I am not here as a victim. I come as a witness, to testify about atrocities committed by man against his fellow man, in hopes of showing people that we can’t change the world, but we can all make a difference, one person at a time, by doing what we know is right.”
“Jutka” is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Rainy Day Books.
