Survival in the Birkenau death camp wasn't just about luck. It was often about who was standing next to you in the mud. When people talk about the sisters of Auschwitz, they’re usually referring to a specific, harrowing, and somehow beautiful dynamic that kept people alive when every law of physics and biology said they should be dead. We aren't just talking about blood relatives here, though thousands of biological sisters did enter the gates together. We're talking about the "camp sisters"—strangers who formed unbreakable bonds to replace the families the Nazis had already murdered.
Honestly, the sheer brutality of the Holocaust makes these stories hard to digest. But if you want to understand how anyone walked out of those crematoriums with their sanity intact, you have to look at the "sister" phenomenon. It was a strategy. It was a rebellion.
The Biological Bond: Rena and Danka Kornreich
Rena Kornreich Moe was on the very first Jewish transport to Auschwitz. Think about that for a second. She arrived in March 1942. Most people didn't last three months; she lasted over three years. Why? A huge part of it was her sister, Danka. When Danka arrived at the camp later, Rena risked everything—literally everything—to protect her.
There’s a moment in Rena’s memoir, Rena’s Promise, that basically sums up the stakes. She had to smuggle bread. She had to hide Danka during selections when Dr. Josef Mengele was looking for anyone who looked "unfit" or "weak." If one was sick, the other would pinch her cheeks to make them look red and healthy. They shared a single bowl. They shared a single thin blanket. In the typhus-ridden barracks of Birkenau, a sister was your only doctor, your only guard, and your only reason to wake up at 4:00 AM for the Appell (roll call) in the freezing snow.
Why "Camp Sisters" Changed Everything
Not everyone had a biological sibling with them. In fact, most didn't. This led to the creation of "camp sisters" (Lagerschwestern).
Historians like Dr. Sharon Kangisser Cohen have researched how these non-biological survivor groups functioned. It wasn't just about "being nice." It was a highly organized survival tactic. If you were alone, you were a target. If you had a "sister," you had someone to hold your place in the soup line so you wouldn't lose your spot while going to the latrine. You had someone to pick the lice off your back.
But it went deeper than chores.
📖 Related: What Does a Stoner Mean? Why the Answer Is Changing in 2026
Psychologically, the Nazis tried to strip away every ounce of human dignity. They shaved heads. They tattooed numbers. They took away names. By calling someone "sister," these women reclaimed a piece of their pre-camp identity. They were no longer just a number; they were a protector. They were a friend. It was a quiet, constant "screw you" to the SS guards who wanted them to turn into animals.
The Cibi, Magda, and Livi Story
You might have heard of the Meller sisters—Cibi, Magda, and Livi. Their story was popularized by Heather Morris, but the facts are even more staggering than the fiction. They made a promise to their father before they were deported from Slovakia: they would stay together.
Imagine trying to keep three people together during a forced death march.
In January 1945, as the Soviet army approached, the Nazis forced prisoners out of Auschwitz and onto the "Death Marches" toward the interior of Germany. This is where the sisters of Auschwitz faced their final, most brutal test. If you fell down, you were shot. If you stopped to rest, you froze. The Meller sisters literally carried each other. When one’s legs gave out, the other two became her crutches. This wasn't a rare occurrence; it was the blueprint for female survival in the camps.
The Difference Between Men and Women’s Survival
Sociologists have actually looked at the data on this. It’s a bit controversial, but many researchers, including the late Holocaust scholar Joan Ringelheim, pointed out that women often formed these "pseudo-families" more quickly and effectively than men did.
Men often focused on individual endurance or political resistance. Women, socially conditioned at the time to be caregivers, turned their barracks into makeshift households. They would "cook" in their heads—sitting in the dark, describing recipes for chicken soup or brisket in excruciating detail to keep their stomachs from cramping. They called it "dream cooking." This shared mental space was a lifeline.
👉 See also: Am I Gay Buzzfeed Quizzes and the Quest for Identity Online
The Medical Experiments and the "Sisters" Who Suffered
We can't talk about the women of Auschwitz without mentioning the "Rabbits" of Ravensbrück or the twins of Auschwitz. Mengele had a sick obsession with twins. While his "experiments" were horrific acts of torture, the bond between the sets of sisters he studied was often the only thing that kept them from giving up.
Eva Mozes Kor and her twin sister Miriam are the most famous examples. Eva famously said that she refused to die because she knew if she died, Mengele would immediately kill Miriam with a lethal injection to perform a comparative autopsy. She stayed alive out of a pure, stubborn refusal to let her sister be murdered.
The Dark Reality: When One Didn't Make It
We love the stories where everyone survives. But the reality of the sisters of Auschwitz is often much grimmer.
What happened when a sister died?
The survivor's guilt was—and is—unimaginable. Many women who lost their "camp sister" or biological sister in the final weeks of the war struggled with severe depression for decades. They felt like they had failed their one job. If you talk to survivors today, or read their testimonies in the Shoah Foundation archives, the pain of that "lost half" is still raw. It’s a reminder that even in survival, there was a profound cost.
Common Misconceptions
- Myth: They survived because they were "stronger." Honestly, strength had little to do with it. Many "strong" people died. Survival was a mix of luck, timing, and these social micro-networks.
- Myth: All sisters helped each other. While the "sisterhood" was a major theme, the camps were designed to turn people against each other. Some families broke under the pressure. It’s important to acknowledge that because it makes the ones who did stay together even more remarkable.
- Myth: It ended at liberation. It didn't. The "sisters" who survived often moved to Israel, the US, or Canada together. They raised their children as cousins. The bond formed in the shadow of the chimneys lasted eighty years.
How to Honor This History Today
If you’re looking to truly understand the depth of these stories beyond a 15-minute Google search, you need to go to the sources.
✨ Don't miss: Easy recipes dinner for two: Why you are probably overcomplicating date night
First, look up the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum archives. They have digitized thousands of personal accounts that move past the "big history" and into the "small history" of daily life.
Second, read The Sisters of Auschwitz by Roxane van Iperen. It details the story of Janny and Lien Brilleslijper, who ran a high-stakes resistance operation from a house called "The High Nest" before being sent to the camps. It’s a masterclass in showing how "sisterhood" was actually a form of active combat against fascism.
Third, visit a local Holocaust museum. Seeing the physical size of a "bunk" where six or more women slept helps you realize why having a sister to huddle against was a matter of life and death.
Practical Steps for Further Learning
- Verify the names: When you read a story about "sisters," check the Yad Vashem database. The names and dates matter because the Nazis tried to erase them.
- Support Survivor Testimony: Organizations like the USC Shoah Foundation rely on people actually watching the videos. Don't just read summaries; listen to the women tell their own stories.
- Learn the nuances of "Small Acts": Understand that in Auschwitz, sharing a piece of moldy bread wasn't a "nice gesture." It was a capital offense and a miracle.
The legacy of the sisters of Auschwitz isn't just about the tragedy. It’s about the fact that even in the most industrialized "death factory" in human history, the basic human instinct to care for another person couldn't be fully extinguished. That’s the real takeaway. It wasn't just about surviving; it was about remaining human while doing it.
Actionable Next Steps
To deepen your understanding of the social structures within the camps, start by exploring the Yad Vashem Digital Collections. Specifically, look for the "Women in the Holocaust" section. It provides primary source documents, photos, and letters that clarify the specific gendered experiences of survival.
If you're interested in the psychological aspect, read Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. While Frankl was in the men's camps, his analysis of "social units" as a survival requirement mirrors exactly what the women experienced in Birkenau.
Finally, consider donating to or volunteering with organizations that preserve Oral Histories. As the last generation of survivors passes away, these recorded testimonies are the only way to ensure the specific details of these "sisterhoods" aren't lost to generalized history.