Engelina was born in Berlin, Germany in 1927. As a child, she experienced anti-Jewish laws and persecution. In 1938, she and her family experienced Kristallnacht. In 1942, her family was deported to Estonia, where her parents perished. Engelina and her sister stayed together, and worked throughout labor camps in Estonia. In July 1944, as the Russians closed in, they were sent to Stutthof Concentration Camp in Poland. Eventually, they were liberated by British troops in Bergen Belsen in April 1945. After the war, Engelina married and settled in the United States in 1957.
