| Selma Engel-Wijnberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | Selma Wijnberg May 15, 1922 Groningen The Netherlands |
| Residence | Branford, USA |
| Ethnicity | Jewish |
| Children | Yes |
| Awards | Knight of the Order of Oranje-Nassau |
| Notes
Married to Chaim Engel
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Selma Engel-Wijnberg[1] (Groningen, 15 May 1922) is a Dutch Holocaust survivor and the only known Dutch prisoner of Sobibor extermination camp who escaped and survived.
Wijnberg grew up in Zwolle where her parents had a hotel (hotel Wijnberg).
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In September 1942 she had to hide first in Utrecht, later in De Bilt. During hiding she used the name Greetje van den Berg. She was arrested by the police on 18 December. In February 1943 she was transferred to Camp Vught then to Camp Westerbork and finally to Sobibor on April 9, 1943.
After her escape during the revolt of 14 October 1943, she fled with the Polish Jew Chaim Engel (Brudzew, 10 January 1916 - 4 July 2003), whom she fell in love with in Sobibor. The couple fled through a minefield and a forest and hid for nine months in the attic of a farm until the expolsion of Axis forces in Poland in July 1944 by the Red army. Meanwhile the couple was married and she became pregnant. During their stay in the attic they became infected by scabies.
Via Chełm and Parczewski, where their son Emiel was born, they went to Lubin. They crossed the Ukraine by train to Tsjernivtsi and to Odessa. She left by boat, with Chaim, for Marseille. During the journey her son Emiel died and the body was buried at sea near Greece. From Marseille they travelled by train to Zwolle and returned to their house, Hotel Wijnberg.
Minister Hans Kolfschoten decided that Chaim could not stay in the Netherlands as he was an unwanted foreigner. In the Nederlands they married again on 18 September 1945 and the police of Zwolle concluded that Selma, by marrying the Polish Engel, also became Polish. The police asked the Ministry of Justice what should happen with them both. They couldn't be returned to Poland because Poland no longer accepted the return of Polish citizens from foreign countries. It was decided not to intern them in a foreigner's camp near Valkenswaard because it was expected that a quick return to Poland was possible. In Zwolle Selma gave birth to a son and a daughter. They set up a velvet and fashion store.
In 1951 they moved to Israel where they settled in Kibbutz Moledet and later in Beit Yitzhak. Chaim couldn't feel at home in Israel and in 1957 they decided to move to the United States where they settled in Branford. They returned to Europe on some occasions to testify against the war criminals of Sobibor.
On 12 April 2010 Minister Ab Klink apologised during the Westerbork-rememberings ceremony on behalf of the Dutch government. She didn't accept the apologies, because they were too late. The same day she was decorated with the grade of Knight in de Order of Oranje-Nassau.[2] It was the first time since she had left in 1951 that she returned to the Netherlands.
In the movie Escape from Sobibor[3] her character was played by Ellis van Maarseveen. Ad van Liempt wrote a biography about her Selma: De vrouw die Sobibor overleefde (ISBN 978-90-74274-42-5)[4] and made a documentary about her which was aired by the NOS on Dutch television.[5]
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