Toska was born April 8, 1935 in Vienna, Austria, to Ryfka and Adolf Feuchtbaum. Her father was a professional photographer in Vienna's 11th District. One of his favorite subjects was Toska. Adolf was active in Jewish community life and was a member of the Jewish World War I veterans' association. In March 1938, Hitler annexed Austria. Soon after, Toska's father was arrested, and he was sent to the Dachau concentration camp. Later, he was transferred to Buchenwald and was released in 1939. He fled to France, where he later joined the underground.
Toska and her mother endured great suffering. Unable to leave Austria because they had no money, they were removed from their comfortable apartment and forced to live, along with all the other Jews of Vienna, in the overcrowded 2nd District. Half-starved and impoverished, they feared for their lives.
On May 14, 1944, at 8:15 p.m., Toska and her mother, along with 998 other Viennese Jews, were deported to the Izbica transit camp in Poland. Izbica was only a few miles from the Belzec death camp and its gas chamber. Only one person is known to have survived this camp.
