She became a bag maker because of Hitler – The true story of the Hungarian Judith Leiber – PHOTOS, VIDEO

Hvg.hu reports about Judith Leiber, a courageous woman who escaped from Budapest’s ghetto and ended up in the United States. Her talent, religiousness, and beautiful purses gave her the opportunity to change her life.

The beginning of her life

Judith Leibert was born as Judit Pető into a wealthy Jewish family in 1921 as a second child. Her birthday was only four months after the first anti-Jewish law was passed. Numerus Clausus limited the number of Jewish students at the universities. By the time Judith turned 17, she has already spoken five languages. Therefore, her family sent her to King’s College, London. She was to study chemistry, because her family saw big opportunities in the skincare field.

A tragic period of her life

After spending a year in London, Judith came home for summer vacation to Hungary. However, this summer ended in a way no-one would have expected: Germany overran Poland. Judith’s parents wanted to send her back to London, but she insisted on staying with her family in Budapest. Therefore, she had to say goodbye to her studies due to the second Jewish law that limited the professions Jewish people could occupy. This is how Judith’s sister became a confectioner, and she turned to leather work. Judith was the first female intern at the Pessl company. Her family had to go to an international ghetto where 26 of them had to share a single room apartment. Her father got saved only by a Swiss free pass. Judith admitted that she had been designing purses to fall asleep.