Mina Schneider

(11th October 1902– 1972)

Mina Schneider was the youngest daughter of Hillel and Esther Schneider. She was born in Leipzig on 11 October 1902. Her mother Esther died when Mina was nine years old. Mina married the engineer Matteus Muschinsky. He and his brother Mendel ran a successful lingerie business in Germany. Mendel married Mina’s sister Louisa – both were murdered in Auschwitz.
Mina and Mattheus had two children, Benny and Esther. Mina ran her own shop for handicrafts and knitwear.

Mattheus took part in the political resistance against the National Socialists and joined the Social Democrats. When he was to be arrested, he was able to escape to Berlin in time due to a warning, he then managed to flee to France. Mina and the children initially stayed in Leipzig, where their son Benny died of diphtheria. Mina followed Mattheus to Paris, and she found a job as a caretaker for an elderly Jewish woman in the countryside. Mina and Mattheus managed to obtain entry certificates for the USA and for Palestine, so that the family emigrated to Pardes Hanna in Israel in 1935. Mattheus died of heart failure in 1960. Mina then moved to Jerusalem to live with her daughter Esther. It was not until the last years of her life that Mina began to learn Hebrew. She died of cancer in Jerusalem in 1972.