Nancy Sauers

Nancy Sauers, whose mother saved her life by trading places in a line headed to a gas chamber, died Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018, at a rehabilitation center near her home in Atlanta. She was 93.

When she was born March 1, 1925, in Tarnov, Poland, her parents Max and Ernestine Schoenbach gave her the name Niusia. When she was a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, her oppressors gave her A4241194, a number they tattooed on her forearm.

But when she immigrated to the United States in 1950 with her husband, also a Holocaust survivor, and their 2-year-old son, she gave herself a name. Nancy followed the American dream by owning her own businesses. She and her husband David Sauers ran a small grocery store called Anthony’s on Jonesboro Road, where they were known for donating turkeys and hams for Christmas to a church across the street. The couple also owned a grocery store on Capitol Avenue before the construction of Turner Field.

Immediately after the war, Nancy had returned to Tarnov looking for surviving family members. She didn’t find any -- and fled communist Poland to a displaced persons camp in Linz, Austria, where she met David. Together the couple made a family.

She is survived by three children: Isidor Sauers and his wife Megan of Knoxville, Tenn.; Edward Sauers of Atlanta; and Michael Sauers of Acworth. She also is survived by two grandchildren: Aaron Sauers of Aurora, Ill., and Elisha Davidsburg and her husband Joshua of Norfolk, Va. David, her husband of about 40 years, died in 1986.

Her family will remember her hearty laugh, signature White Diamonds perfume and unmatched cornbread stuffing.

A graveside service will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018, in Greenwood Cemetery, 1173 Cascade Circle SW.