Dalma Špitzerová

Špitzerová's most recent honor was being recognized as the 2019 Slovakian winner of the Memory of Nations Awards in Prague, Czech Republic. The 2019 awards honored a citizen in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Germany that had shown bravery standing up to the totalitarian regimes in their individual countries.

Špitzerová has received multiple awards and recognitions over the past 30 years. In the 1990s, she received a 1st place international prize for her private acting studio that she started. In January 2016, she received the highest state distinction from Slovakian President Andrej Kiska. She was also featured in the 2017 documentary Zachor ("Remember" in Hebrew) that uses testimony from five ex-prisoners of Nováky Assembly Camp. The director's goal for the film was to ensure that people don't forget the Slovak work camps.

After the normalization period in 1968, Špitzerová was not able to act. Her husband was also not able to work as a journalist either. The Communists did not like the ideas that he was publishing, so they silenced him.

Following the war, Špitzerová graduated from the Drama Academy. The first theater she worked in was the Martin Chamber Theater, then she worked at the Nová Scéna. The last theater she worked at was the famous Tatra Revue as an actress, singer, and dancer in the 1960s. She worked with František Dibarbora at the Nová Scéna and with Milan Lasica at the Tatra Revue. In the early 70s, the Tatra Revue was shut down by the Communists.

In the late 1960s, Špitzerová was approached by the former Minister of the Interior of the Wartime State, Alexander Mach. He had been let go in May 1968. Mach had read Juraj Špitzer's articles in Cultural Life and wanted a meeting with him. At this point, Špitzerová was back together with Špitzer and helped Mach set up a meeting with him. Špitzer and Mach released a conversation that showed two people that were enemies and had different views talking things out.

During her time at the camp, Špitzerová became involved in the underground Slovak National Uprising movement. Her future husband, Juraj Špitzer, was a famous journalist and the leader of the uprising. She had known him as a child but was not romantically involved with him until meeting him again in the 3rd barracks of the camp. Špitzer used to sneak out of the camp at night with a group of people and smuggle in weapons that they had been given from Soviet Guerillas. In August 1944, the uprising against the guards began, but Špitzer would not let Špitzerová be a part of it because she was a woman. Once she escaped from the camp following the start of the uprising, she still found ways to get involved in the movement.

Špitzerová was born in the Slovakian town of Piešt'any (former Czechoslovakia). She spent her whole childhood in Liptovský Mikuláš. Her father worked as a Hazzan in different synagogues, and her mother taught French and German. In 1942, her father was concerned that the family would be deported to a concentration or work camp, so he arranged for Špitzerová and her two older sisters to go to Hungary.

Špitzerová was in Nováky Assembly Camp for two years. She worked as a seamstress in one of the workshops making backpacks. From March to October 1942, the camps in Slovakia exported around 5,600 people to concentration camps in Poland. Špitzerová was never transported to a camp in Poland because a Czech architect was in charge of the work camp and informed the German soldiers that he needed the labor. They sewed backpacks for 10 hours a day and were given limited food.

Dalma Špitzerová (née Holanová; 5 February 1925 - 21 January 2021) was a Slovakian actress and acting teacher. She grew up with her father, mother, and four siblings in Liptovský Mikuláš. In 1942, when she was 16, she fled to Hungary seeking refuge from deportation to concentration camps. When she was caught in Hungary she was sent to Nováky Assembly Camp, where she developed a passion for theater and acting. Following the end of the war, Špitzerová went onto become an actress in multiple theaters in Slovakia. Špitzerová was also the Slovakia winner of the 2019 Memory of Nations Awards.