Ella Mandel, born Ella Joskowitz on December 2, 1926, in Zduńska Wola, Poland, was 13 years old when the Nazis invaded Poland in September, 1939. Her once-peaceful life with her parents, Hela and Berak, and her two sisters, Zosia and Lola, quickly unraveled as the Germans forced the Jewish community into a ghetto. Life in the ghetto was marked by scarcity and fear. One day, the Germans rounded up the residents, separating and executing many, including Ella's youngest sister, Lola. The survivors, including Ella's family, were sent to the Lódz Ghetto, where her father died in 1942.

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In August 1944, Ella, her mother, and her sister Zosia were deported to Auschwitz. Desperate to stay together, they clung to their mother until a selection separated them. After losing her mother, Ella and Zosia vowed not to hold on to one another, understanding that their closeness could lead to further separation. They spent only a few days in Auschwitz before being sent to a labor camp in Hamburg, where they worked digging ditches until early 1945. From there, they were forced on a march to Bergen-Belsen. Ella fell gravely ill, but a friend who claimed to be a nurse managed to steal enough medicine to keep her alive. This friend remains Ella's closest confidante to this day.

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Liberated on April 15, 1945, Ella began her long road to recovery. After overcoming typhus, she found her sister Zosia, who had also survived but was dying of tuberculosis. Fearing separation, Ella refused to let the Red Cross take Zosia to a hospital, a decision she regrets to this day. Zosia died two months later, a loss that deeply affected Ella. Despite the pain, Ella built a new life, raising a family and sharing her story to ensure that the memory of those lost endures.