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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.