Malka Zimetbaum, also known as "Mala" Zimetbaum, was born on the 26 January 1918 in Brzesko, today’s Poland, then part of Austria-Hungary. She was the youngest of five children of Pinhas and Chaya Zimetbaum, both of whom were Jewish. Mala’s family had lived in Germany for several years before her birth, which is why German was the main language spoken in her parents' home at the time. In 1928, when Mala was 10 years old, she moved with her family to Antwerp in Belgium. She achieved excellent results in school, especially in math and foreign languages and she spoke Flemish, French, German, English, Yiddish and Polish.
As her father was blind, the family lived under difficult financial circumstances. In order to contribute to the family income, Mala dropped out of school and initially worked as a dressmaker in a large Antwerp fashion house. She became interested in Zionism, a political and nationalist movement advocating for the establishment of a Jewish state in the historical land of Israel and joined the Jewish youth organization Hanoar Hatzioni.
Mala Zimetbaum was 15 years old when on 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg.
In 1933, approximately 9.5 million Jews lived in Europe, comprising 1.7% of the total European population. This number represented more than 60 percent of the world's Jewish population at that time, estimated at 15.3 million.
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