Hana Kovanic (z”l)

May 17, 1936 – July 26, 2019

Birthplace: Velká nad Veličkou, Czech Republic
Religious Identity: Reform Judaism

“To us it was temporary; we thought it would go away.”

Hana Kovanic was born during World War II. Her family felt the situation with the Third Reich was only temporary, so the family decided to stayed in Europe. In late 1942, because of her father’s qualifications as a carpenter, the family was placed into Sered, a labor camp where he helped build the barracks. In 1944, they were liberated from the labor camp due to the Slovak uprising and were forced into hiding. However, they were sent back to Sered after they were identified as Jewish during an incident on a train.

Hana’s father and older brother were then sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, while Hana, her mother, and her brother were sent to Auschwitz. Hana and her brother would have been killed immediately, but the three of them were never unloaded from the train. From Auschwitz they were sent to Theresienstadt. The entire family survived the war, despite being separated.

Hana and her family came to the U.S. in 1948 and started a life in New York. Hana earned a bachelor’s degree in Business and Accounting, followed by a master’s degree in Accounting and Finance. She started her career as a Certified Public Accountant. Her and her husband married in 1969 and went on to have one child. Hana spent her career teaching accounting after the birth of her daughter.

“My father got a job on a skyscraper in New York. He would work overtime, and he made as much money as he could. His sister paid for our tickets to the U.S. and we had to repay the tickets. He always said ‘I didn’t die in a concentration camp, but I might fall off one of these things’.”

Hana passed away on July 26, 2019. You can read Hana’s Obituary here.

-Biography adapted from “In Celebration of Life: The Living Legacy Project” (2016)