Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Manya Auster Feldman - August 11, 1998

Contents

Manya was born in Dombrovitsa, Poland in 1923. Her family was orthodox and considerably large, numbering close to 200. Following the outbreak of the war in 1939, the Soviet Union occupied Dombrovitsa. Russian occupation ended however in 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union and Manya's hometown fell into German hands. The Jews in Dombrovitsa immediately felt the effects of German anti-Semitic measures. In August 1942, the Germans liquidated the ghetto in Dombrovitsa and Manya, along with her father, brother and eldest sister escaped into the forest. Her mother and her two sisters remained and they were deported to the nearby town of Sarny where they were murdered. After fleeing the Germans, Manya and her remaining family joined the Kovpak partisan movement. Manya was separated from her father and siblings and spent the remainder of the war hiding in several small villages in the region and serving in different partisan units. Her father and siblings were killed in combat. Following the end of the war, Manya was placed in a DP camp in Berlin. She then emigrated to the United States.

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  1. Introduction
  2. Religious Life
  3. Mother and Father
  4. Pre-War Life
  5. Relations with Non-Jews
  6. Zionism
  7. The Soviet Occupation
  8. Religion Under the Soviets
  9. Knowledge of Germans
  10. The German Invasion
  11. Formation of Ghetto
  12. Rations in Ghetto
  13. Work in Ghetto
  14. German Occupation
  15. Conditions in Ghetto
  16. Religion in Ghetto
  17. Talking About Experiences
  18. Escape from Ghetto
  19. Death of Mother and Sister
  20. Hiding in Forest
  21. Conditions in Forest
  22. Joins the Partisans
  23. The Kovpaks
  24. Anti-Semitism of Partisans
  25. Recalling Escape from Ghetto
  26. Receiving Help
  27. Separated from Father
  28. Typhus
  29. Hiding in Village
  30. Encounter with Germans
  31. Relationship with Villagers
  32. Hiding
  33. News of the War
  34. Celebrating Holidays
  35. Joining Partisans
  36. Partisan Operations
  37. Story of Baby
  38. Liberation
  39. Return Home
  40. Leaves Home
  41. D.P. Camp
  42. Conditions in D.P. Camp
  43. Immigration to America
  44. America
  45. Family
  46. Reflecting on Experiences

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