Hana Rosbruch: The Clown of Majdanek Who Danced to Survive the Holocaust

Hana Rosbruch, born in November 1929 in Lublin, Poland, is a Holocaust survivor who endured the Majdanek concentration camp. During her imprisonment, she was forced to serve as a clown and entertainer for the German soldiers — all while grappling with the unbearable loss of her brother and sister, who were murdered in the gas chambers.

She described her experience in haunting words: “With one eye I cried, and with the other I laughed for the German soldiers. I knew they had burned my brother, my sister, and my aunt.”

A Story Told Through Film

Rosbruch’s story is documented in the German Bild newspaper’s documentary, “The Clown of Majdanek – In the Concentration Camp I Had to Dance to Stay Alive.”

The film follows her journey from Lublin back to Majdanek, where she shares her personal testimony of the horrors she endured. It is part of a broader documentation project of Holocaust survivor testimonies from those who were children during the war, called “Children of Auschwitz.”

Rescue and Survival

During the war, Rosbruch was rescued from Majdanek by Janek, a Christian business partner of her father, who smuggled her out of the camp and hid her in a cellar for 18 months until liberation.

After the war, she was miraculously reunited with her parents, who had also survived. In 1948, the family immigrated to Israel.

Life After the Holocaust

Today, Rosbruch lives in Kfar Saba. She is the mother of two children, grandmother of five, and great-grandmother of six. She still takes part in dance groups, keeping a promise she once made to herself: “When I am free, I will dance only for myself.”