Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Simon Cymerint - June 8, 1982

Simon Cymerint grew up in a close-knit family in Starowicea [Starowice], Poland. When the Germans occupied Starowicea [Starowicea], the family was moved into a ghetto and Simon was first sent to work in a local factory and then to work in a forced labor camp. Simon escaped from the labor camp with the help of a Jewish contractor and returned home to Starowicea [Starowice] where he went back to work in the factory. Soon after, the family was sent to Treblinka where his parents and youngest brother perished; Simon and two other brothers were separated and sent to Auschwitz. Simon survived Auschwitz working as a painter on a Monowitz work detail. In April 1945, the camp was evacuated and the prisoners forced on a death march that ended with their liberation by the Americans. After liberation, Simon worked several years with the American army, reunited with his only surviving brother, and immigrated to the United States in 1950.

1. Introduction
2. Family
3. Anti-Semitism
4. Education
5. Friday Nights
6. Politics
7. Outbreak of War
8. Registration
9. The Factory
10. Forced Labor Camp
11. Treatment in the Labor Camps
12. Family's Fate
13. Learning of Treblinka
14. Resistance
15. Auschwitz
16. Transport to Auschwitz
17. Arrival at Auschwitz
18. Life in Auschwitz
19. Organizing in Auschwitz
20. Evacuation from Auschwitz
21. Evacuation from Auschwitz II
22. After Liberation
23. UNRRA
24. Reuniting with Brothers
25. Returning to Poland
26. Tattoo
27. Life in Auschwitz II
28. Punishment in Auschwitz
29. Auschwitz Authorities
30. Thoughts on Survival
31. Leaving Europe
32. Nightmares and Reminders
33. His Children