Aunt Grete’s Stone

In 1942, Margarite Haslinger of Vienna, Austria, was murdered in the Lodz Ghetto in Poland. There is little known about her death except that it must have been brutal. Lodz was a difficult place where victims often died of disease and starvation. People were subject to overcrowded and unsanitary conditions which bred typhus, tuberculosis, dysentery and pneumonia. Beatings and other violence were common occurrences.

Grete was 40 years old when she was murdered. She was my great-aunt.

In the years since her death, there has been a Yad Vashem testimonial submitted by her husband on her behalf, her name has been added to lists on the Holocaust Museum website and other databases, and her name has been etched into the Shoah Wall of Names in Vienna next to her in-law’s family, the Haslingers.

On May, 11, 2026, Grete will get her own memorial. A Remembrance Stone for her will be placed at the address of her mother, Fanni Feilbogen by the organization, Steine der Erinnerung. It will be placed next to her mother’s stone. This is not Grete’s last known address, but by all accounts, she appears to have stayed behind in Austria so that her mother would not be alone in Nazi-controlled Vienna. Grete was the youngest of the Feilbogen children, and the only female to three brothers.

This is the Memorial Stone for my great-grandmother Fanni Feilbogen which is at her last known address at 112 Mariahilferstrasse. Fanni was murdered at Chelmno, an extermination camp. She is listed along with her neighbors who were also murdered.

112 Mariahilferstrasse

This is the building where Grandma Fanni lived. This is the building where her children, Fritz, Robert, Paul and Grete once lived. It is on a beautiful and lively street well-known as a shoppers mecca in Vienna. Greta will have her own stone next to her family.

This is the Page of Testimony submitted to Yad Vashem by her husband, Julius who fled to Palestine in 1939 without her, perhaps at her insistence. Greta was a woman who owned property, which was unusual at the time. If she was like other women in the family, she was strong-willed. There was probably no talking her into leaving.

On May 11, 2026, we will remember Aunt Grete with music, songs and poetry. We will hold each other close, and by remembering her, we will bring a bit of peace into the world, and that is so very much needed.