A Lucky Child

Thomas Buergenthal is the author of this memoir. He was forced to leave his home in Czechoslovakia at 6-years-old and grew-up on the run and in Jewish ghettos, labor camps, and concentration camps. He lost most of his family in the Holocaust. As an adult, he emigrated to the United States as a refugee, obtained a law degree, and became a distinguished international human rights attorney and judge.

Mundek Buergenthal was Buergenthal’s father. He was a bank officer in Germany before fleeing to Czechoslovakia during the Nazi rise in Germany. Together with his wife Mutti, he kept his family alive for most of their internment. He frequently assured Buergenthal that the Germans would lose the war and, on many occasions, saved his life. Mundek died in a concentration camp shortly before the war ended.

Gerda, or “Mutti,” Buergenthal was Buergenthal’s mother. She was sent to live at Mundek’s hotel in Czechoslovakia by her parents and was engaged to him three days later. Mutti’s quick thinking and bravery saved the lives of herself, her family, and their friends on several occasions. While on the run, a fortune teller told her that her son was a lucky boy and that he would survive the Holocaust.