Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Abraham Mondry was born in Mlawa, Poland and with the outbreak of war, his family was deported to the Warsaw ghetto. Before, during, and after the war, Abraham actively worked as a smuggler on the black market. Abraham spent three years at Auschwitz where he served as a nurse aid to Dr. Mengele. With the liquidation of Auschwitz, he was marched to Ebensee where he was soon liberated by American forces. Recovering from health problems, Abraham lived in Italy where he continued his black market activities until 1949 when he immigrated to the United States.

An interview with Herman Opatowski, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Paul Canchester. Herman Opatowski was born in Kielce, Poland. After German invasion of Poland in 1939, Herman, along with his mother, father and eight siblings, were placed in a make-shift ghetto in Kielce. While in the ghetto, Herman was used as a forced laborer by the German authorities. At some point, his family was sent “East,” most likely to the Treblinka death camp. After being separated from his family, Herman was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he remained until the camp was liquidated in early 1945. He was then sent on a forced march westwards, but managed to escape from the column. Heading eastward, he eventually met the Soviet Army.