Born: Brno, Czechoslovakia April 14, 1902 Elsa was the eldest of
three children born to Jewish parents in Brno, the capital of
Moravia, where her father ran a successful shipping company. In
1920 she graduated from a German-language secondary school. She
married and moved to Bratislava, but the marriage was
unsuccessful and Elsa returned to Brno in 1926, where she opened
a millinery business. 1933-39: On May 24, 1933, Elsa married
Robert Kulka and the couple settled in Robert's hometown of
Olomouc. Their son, Tomas, was born a year and a day later. In
1937 Elsa's father passed away, and the Kulkas moved to Brno to
take over the family's shipping business. In March 1939 the
Germans occupied Bohemia and Moravia, including Brno. They
immediately imposed restrictions on the Jewish population.
1940-42: On January 2, 1940, Elsa, Robert, Tomas and Elsa's
widowed mother were evicted from their house. That same winter
Elsa's younger brother and sister managed to emigrate to
Palestine [the Yishuv], but Elsa's husband,