Miri Fabian (; born 30 August 1943 in

Nováky Nováky ( hu, Nyitranovák) is a town in the Prievidza District, Trenčín Region in western Slovakia. Nováky Power Plant, a thermal power plant is located near the town. The town is one of the centres of brown coal mining in Slovakia. Geograp ...

Slovak Republic Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

) is an Israeli actress. She may be best known for her role as ''Chaja Dresner'' in

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

drama ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...

''.

Life

Miri Fabian was born 1943 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in a camp for

Slovak Jews The history of the Jews in Slovakia goes back to the 11th century, when the first Jews settled in the area. Early history In the 14th century, about 800 Jews lived in Bratislava, the majority of them engaged in commerce and money lending. ...

.Yehuda Lahav: M''iri Fabiánová, Izraelská Herečka slovenského pôvodu: „Pri nakrúcaní som prežívala osud svojej matky“''. In: Slovensko: kultúrno-společenský mesačník. Martin,

Matica slovenská Matica Slovenská (en. Slovak Matica) is a Slovakia, Slovak national, Culture, cultural and scientific organization headquartered in Martin, Slovakia. It was founded in 1863 and revived in 1919. The organisation has facilities in the Slovaki ...

, roč. XXIII., č. 1, p. 38–39.Anne Thompson:
From the EW archives: How Steven Spielberg brought Schindler's List to life
'. In: ew.com, January 21, 1994. Together with her mother and two siblings she barely escaped the last transport to the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. Her father, who fought in a partisan unit, was able to locate the family after the war had ended. The family first lived in the west Slovak town of

Topoľčany Topoľčany (; sk, Veľké Topoľčany before 1920; hu, Nagytapolcsány) is a town in the Nitra Region of Slovakia. The population is around 25,000 in total. The town's population is nicknamed ''Žochári'' (singl. ''Žochár'') (producers, or o ...

. In 1949 they migrated to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, where they moved to

Rosh Pinna Rosh Pina or Rosh Pinna ( he, רֹאשׁ פִּנָּה, lit. ''Cornerstone'') is a local council in the Korazim Plateau in the Upper Galilee on the eastern slopes of Mount Kna'an in the Northern District of Israel. It was established as Gei ...

in the early 1950s. Miri Fabian later got married and had two children. Her brother was killed in action in 1967 during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

. After her exams Fabian successfully completed acting training at

Beit Zvi Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts, and a Theater ( he, בית צבי) is an acting school, and a theater located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel, established in 1950. History Beit Zvi is the country's first theater school ...

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...

. She started her career in the theatre. Later she was also acting in various Israeli film and TV productions. In 1993 Fabian was cast for the role of Chaja Dresner in

's film ''

''. She struggled to complete the distressing scene in which a number of Schindler Jews are forced into a room that appears to be a gas chamber.''Journeys in Film: Schindler's List''. USC Rossier School of Education, 2018, Los Angeles, p. 114. During production breaks she visited her birthplace Nováky and Topoľčany for the first time in 50 years.

Selected filmography

* 1980: '' The Thin Line'' ''(על חבל דק)'' * 1983: '' A Married Couple (זוג נשוי)'' * 1984: ''Forced Testimony'' ''(עדות מאונס)'' * 1990: ''Where Eagles Fly'' ''(דרך הנשר)'' * 1993: ''

'' * 1993: ''Overdose'' מנת יתר * 1996: ''The Italians Are Coming'' ''(האיטלקים באים)'' * 1998: ''Gentila '' ''(ז'נטילה)'' * 2007: ''

Jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella- ...

'' ''(מדוזות)'' * 2011: ''

Policeman A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

'' ''(השוטר)''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fabian, Miri 1943 births Living people Holocaust survivors Israeli film actresses Israeli stage actresses Israeli television actresses Israeli people of Slovak-Jewish descent