Rosa was one of 14 children born to religious Jewish parents in the village of Yasinya at a time when it was known as Korosmezo and was part of Hungary. During World War I, she married Michael von Hoppen Waldhorn, an officer in the Austro-Hungarian army who was based near Yasinya. During the 1920s they moved to Paris, where they raised three children. 1933-39: The Waldhorn family's life in Paris was very different from their life in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Rosa's husband made a good living, and he felt that their children had better educational opportunities. Confident that France was strong enough to defend itself from the Germans, the Waldhorns felt safe in Paris.
1940-44: Germany quickly defeated France in 1940 and occupied Paris on June 14. At first, Rosa, who enjoyed the protection of Hungarian citizenship, was safe from the threat of deportation by the Nazis. But after her husband was rounded up in July 1942 and deported along with other Polish-born Jews, Rosa went into hiding in an attic in Paris and her children went into hiding in the countryside.
Rosa was denounced by an informant, and was deported from Paris on September 2, 1943. She was gassed in Auschwitz two days later. Rosa was 56 years old.
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