Maritza Shelley was born in 1928 in Budapest, Hungary. After the Nazi invasion of Hungary in 1944, she and her sister were selected to perform forced labor. When Maritza returned on a brief visit to her mother, who was living in the Jewish ghetto in Budapest, a roundup occurred and they were sent on a death march. They eventually reunited with her sister, and all three women escaped, obtained false papers, and hitchhiked back to Budapest with a convoy of Nazis. Maritza moved to New York City in 1947.
In this Stories Survive program, Maritza recounts the day the Nazis invaded Hungary and shares her story of survival.
Stories Survive is made possible by the Goldie & David Blanksteen Foundation.