Funeral Details

Edith Ema Raab

October 3, 1925 – September 2, 2026

Edith Ema Raab, age 100, passed away peacefully at her home in Chicago on September 2, 2026. She was born on October 3, 1925, in Trnava, Czechoslovakia.

Loving wife of the late Dr. Ernst Raab. Beloved mother of Dr. Benjamin Raab and Dr. David Raab (Karyn Lasin). Proud grandmother of Elli, Daniel (Omer), Nina, Talia, Sophie, Sarah (MJ), Elizabeth, Jonathan and Anna. Dear sister of the late Hedi Hirsch. Cherished daughter of the late Berta and Moritz Engel.

A proud survivor of the Holocaust, Edith spent three years in hiding, including seven months on her own, on foot through the winter fields along the Hungarian-Czech border, relying on nothing but her own instinct and intellect to survive. Her mother’s parting words to her during the war, “be strong and never give up,” became the mantra that guided the rest of her life. She was never shy about sharing her story, and told it with the strength and clarity of a woman determined that it never be forgotten.

Edith’s greatest passions were her husband, her children, and above all her grandchildren, whom she loved selflessly and without reserve. She was a gifted seamstress and independent businesswoman. She followed the stock market with real devotion, and actively managed her own portfolio well into her late 90s. She spoke six languages fluently, and loved to joke that she’d earned a medical degree of her own, having sat in on every one of her husband Ernst’s medical school classes in Austria.

Edith’s curiosity about people never faded. At her condo in Lincoln Park, she built lasting friendships with neighbors of every age and background, always eager to hear someone’s story.

Family gathered often at her table, drawn as much by her company as by her famous matzo ball soup, a dish she made with love.

Edith lived her hundred years with resilience, wit, and unwavering strength. She will be deeply missed.

Attached below is an open and shareable Google Drive containing the testimony of Edith Raab, documenting her survival during the Holocaust. The interview was conducted by the USC Shoah Foundation on December 21, 1998.

To honor Edith’s memory, we ask that you take the time to watch her testimony and share it with others, so that her story may live on.

drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pI9NVN5wzbie7EanJD-Gfl0RE1ojk0Uk?usp=drive_link

The family will receive friends at a service on Thursday, September 3, 2026, at 5:00 PM at Chicago Jewish Funerals, 8851 Skokie Blvd. (at Niles Center Road), Skokie. Interment will follow in Jerusalem, Israel.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Illinois Holocaust Museum, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie, Illinois 60077, www.ilholocaustmuseum.org, or to Friends of the IDF, P.O. Box 4224, New York, New York 10163, www.fidf.org

Those wishing to attend the service by live stream may do so through the funeral home’s website.

Arrangements entrusted to Chicago Jewish Funerals, Skokie Chapel, 847.229.8822, www.cjfinfo.com

This obituary is protected against unauthorized reproduction or redistribution without the funeral home or family's permission.