Batszewa Dagan

Bat-Sheva Dagan (; 8 September 1925 – 25 January 2024) was a Polish-Israeli orator, psychologist, and writer. A Holocaust survivor born in Łódź, Poland, she was incarcerated in a ghetto in Radom with her parents and two sisters in 1940. After her parents and a sister were deported and murdered in Treblinka in August 1942, she escaped to Germany, but was discovered, imprisoned, and deported to Auschwitz in May 1943.

After spending 20 months in Auschwitz, she survived two death marches and was liberated by British troops in May 1945. She was the only survivor of her family. She and her husband settled in Israel, where she taught kindergarten and later obtained degrees in educational counseling and psychology. She went on to author books, poems, and songs for children and young adults on Holocaust themes and developed psychological and pedagogical methods for teaching the Holocaust to children. She is considered a pioneer in children's Holocaust education.

Early life Izabella (Batszewa) Rubinsztajn was born on 8 September 1925, in Łódź, Poland, to Szlomo-Fiszel Rubinsztajn, owner of a textile workshop, and his wife Fajga, a seamstress. She survived another death march to Lübz, where she was liberated by British troops on 2 May 1945. She and her husband changed their surname from Kornwicz They resided in Holon In 1968 she embarked on a two-year course of study in the United States, earning a bachelor's degree in psychology at Columbia University.

Other activities In the early 1980s In January 2016, she donated to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum a miniature good luck charm which she said she had hidden in her straw bedding in Auschwitz the entire time she was incarcerated there. The charm, a pair of leather shoes measuring about in length, was crafted by a female German Jewish inmate, who gave it to Batszewa with the words, "Let them carry you to freedom". In January 2020, she spoke at a commemoration at Auschwitz of the camp's liberation 75 years earlier.

Dagan's literary works include five books on Holocaust themes for children and adults, some of which have been translated into other languages, Dagan said in an interview that in writing about the Holocaust for children, "I write so as to preserve the mental health of the child. The stories have a happy ending in order not to rob them of their faith in mankind". Dagan also wrote children's songs on Holocaust themes.

Awards and honors In 2008 Dagan was named Woman of the Year in Education by Yad Vashem for her contribution to Holocaust teaching for children. She was also named an Outstanding Member of the City of Holon. In 2012, she was honored as one of the torch lighters at ceremonies marking Yom HaShoah.