Reha Abraham was born in Berlin on January 19, 1943. A few days later, her parents Ruth and Walter Abraham went underground with her. They left their home on a cold winter night and went to the east of Brandenburg. There, they spent some time in a rented cabin. When a police patrol checked the parents’ papers, they presented forged identity cards received from their helper Maria Nickel. These aroused suspicion but they gave the Abrahams a headstart, and they fled back to Berlin.
Over the following period, they had nowhere to stay. They often had to sleep on park benches. Maria Nickel took in the child on several occasions. She once also took Reha to hospital and passed her off as her own child to get treatment for her.
The family found separate hiding places. Most of the time, Reha stayed with her mother in Neudamm (now Dębno in Poland), where they rented a room under a false name.
Reha Abraham and her parents survived the war. They were able to return to Berlin in 1945. They emigrated to the United States in 1948 and settled in New York City.
Ruth Abraham with her daughter Reha in hiding, around 1944. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
Reha Abraham, Berlin, around 1945. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
The Abraham family after their liberation, Berlin, around 1946. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
