Her mother, Irena Fuchsova, was a seamstress and her father, Otto Weiss, worked at the state bank in Prague.

She was raised in Prague, and shortly after her twelfth birthday on 10 December 1941,[1] she and her parents were deported to the Terezín ghetto.

[2] Using her gift for painting and drawing, while at Terezín, Helga wrote a diary that included images from her life in the camp, which survived the war.

After World War II ended, Helga went back to Prague and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts.

[3] After the Velvet Revolution in November 1989, she exhibited her art many times both in Prague and in other places in Europe.

[3] In 1993, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate by the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston for her lifetime achievements.