Nissen Mangel

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

Nissen Mangel was born on 31 October 1933 (11 Cheshvan 5694) in Košice, Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia, into an observant Jewish family. In 1944, he and his family were arrested in Bratislava and taken to the Sereď camp, before being deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was approximately ten years old.

At Auschwitz, Mangel survived selections conducted by Josef Mengele. In his later testimony, he described encounters with the SS doctor and being subjected to medical experiments. His father was murdered during the Holocaust.

Mangel subsequently endured imprisonment in Mauthausen, Melk and Gunskirchen, as well as forced marches during the final months of the war. He survived until May 1945, when American troops liberated Gunskirchen in Austria.

After the war, he rebuilt his life through religious study and became a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi, scholar, author and translator, eventually settling in Brooklyn, New York. His work included translating the Tehillat Hashem prayer book into English.

In October 2023, Mangel returned to Auschwitz to mark his ninetieth birthday, accompanied by nearly one hundred family members, including his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.