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She was 17 years old when everything ended.
Within minutes, her fate was decided.

Taken. Numbered. Survived. is the true story of Mary Katz Claman, a Hungarian Jewish teenager deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944 and forced into a system designed for mass destruction.

Born into a close-knit family in northeastern Hungary, her early life was defined by tradition, community, and stability. That life disappeared in weeks. After the German occupation, she and her family were forced into the Kisvárda ghetto and then deported in a sealed cattle car to Auschwitz.

When the train doors opened, everything changed.

Men were separated from women. Families were torn apart. A single gesture from an SS officer determined who would live and who would die. She was sent to forced labor. Many of her family members were sent in the other direction and never returned. 

Inside Auschwitz, her name was taken from her.

She became a number: A12064.

This book follows her journey through Auschwitz, forced labor in Germany, and the final months of the war. It documents the reality of daily survival inside the camps: starvation, disease, cold, and constant uncertainty, where survival often depended on chance as much as strength.

But this is not only a story of survival.

After liberation, she endured displacement, uncertainty, and the long process of rebuilding. She eventually immigrated to Canada, where she built a life, raised a family, and carried the memory of what happened for decades. 

What sets this book apart is its foundation.

This is not a fictionalized account. It is based on recorded survivor testimony and supported by archival documentation from institutions including the Arolsen Archives, Yad Vashem, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Every event is grounded in verifiable evidence.

This book does more than tell a story.

It shows how the Holocaust functioned as a system.

It traces one individual life through a structure that was organized, documented, and deliberate, from deportation to forced labor to survival.

For readers of Holocaust history, World War II, and survivor testimony, this is both a personal account and a documented record.

It is a story of loss.
A story of survival.
And a record that cannot be erased.

At seventeen, Maria Katz was deported from Kisvárda, Hungary to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Within hours, she was separated from her family and tattooed with the number A12064. Most of those who arrived with her were murdered on arrival. She survived.

Tattoo A12064 is a narrative account of Maria Katz Claman, a Hungarian Jewish teenager who was deported to Auschwitz, forced into labour, and ultimately survived to rebuild her life in Canada.

The book traces her experience chronologically:

• Childhood in Kisvárda and Pátroha
• The escalation of antisemitic laws in Hungary
• Ghettoization and deportation in 1944
• Arrival and selection at Auschwitz-Birkenau
• Imprisonment under conditions of starvation, cold, and constant threat of death
• Tattooing and loss of identity within the camp system
• Daily survival inside Auschwitz-Birkenau
• Transfer to forced labour at HASAG-Altenburg
• Liberation and displacement
• The rebuilding of a life after the Holocaust
• The enduring legacy of survival

What distinguishes this book is its approach.

It is not written as a traditional first person memoir. Instead, it reconstructs lived experience through a clear, chronological narrative grounded in recorded testimony and supported by historical context.

The emphasis is on immediacy, clarity, and readability.

The account follows events as they were experienced, allowing the reader to understand the progression of the Holocaust from the perspective of a seventeen year old girl moving through it in real time.

All events are grounded in recorded testimony, including the USC Shoah Foundation interview, and supported by verified historical sources. 

The purpose extends beyond storytelling.

It is to present lived experience in a form that is accessible, direct, and faithful to what occurred, without fictionalization or embellishment.

These two books are intentionally designed to work together.
They tell the same story, but in different forms:

• Narrative-driven
• Focused on lived experience
• Structured for clarity and accessibility
• Follows events as they were experienced

• Evidence-driven
• Structured as historical nonfiction
• Built on archival documentation
• Situates one life within the full machinery of the Holocaust

As established in the work itself:

One presents the experience
The other establishes the record 

Together, the books create a complete and reinforced account:

Testimony provides memory
Documentation provides verification

When aligned, they produce a historical record that is stronger, more precise, and more resistant to distortion or denial.

Tattoo A12064 traces her path through the Holocaust from prewar life, to ghettoization and deportation, to survival inside Auschwitz, forced labour at HASAG-Altenburg, and ultimately liberation and rebuilding her life in Canada. The book presents her experience in a clear, direct narrative, grounded in her recorded testimony and supported by verified historical context. 

This is not a fictionalized account. Every event is based on documented testimony and archival evidence.

Tattoo A12064 is a companion to From Kisvárda to Canada: My Mother’s Holocaust Journey.

Both books tell the same story, but in different ways:

• Tattoo A12064 presents the story as a focused, readable narrative of lived experience
• From Kisvárda to Canada presents the same history within a fully documented framework, supported by archival records, transport lists, and historical sources

Together, they serve a shared purpose:

• One tells the story
• The other documents and verifies it

At a time of rising antisemitism and Holocaust denial, this dual approach strengthens the historical record by aligning survivor testimony with independent evidence.