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Eva Ackerman was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1926. Although an only child, Eva was part of a large extended family, most of whom perished in the war. Eva's parents divorced when she was young and she was raised by her mother. Eva had a reasonably normal childhood, even after the war began. After the German annexation of Hungary in 1944, Eva was separated from her mother and sent to Zurndorf, Austria. From there she was transported to a labor camp in Landsberg, where she was liberated. Her father perished in an air raid shortly before the end of the war and her mother died in Bergen-Belsen.
Marton Adler was born in 1929 in Volové, a village in Sub Carpathian Ruthania. He was the oldest child and had two brothers and a sister. His village was occupied by Hungarians in 1939 when he was ten years old. Marton's father was conscripted into a labor unit in Russia from 1941 until the end of 1942. Eventually the family lost their store due to the "Jewish" laws. The Germans occupied the area in March of 1944 and soon after the family was deported, first to a ghetto in Sokirnitsa and then to Auschwitz where his mother and siblings were gassed. Marton and his father were sent to Buchenwald and then to Dora where his father was killed. Marton was eventually liberated by the British from Bergen-Belsen.
An interview with Olga Adler, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Jonathon Fishbane. Olga Adler was born in Beregszász Czechoslovakia. After the Hungarians invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938, Olga's parents sent her to Budapest where she worked as a clothing model until the Budapest Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Olga's life was spared after a failed escape attempt and she lived in several camps until she was sent back to the Budapest ghetto as a nurse to the elderly and insane who had been left there. Olga's immediate family, her father, mother, brother and sister, all perished in forced labor or death camps. Upon liberation, Olga returned to her hometown, got married, and soon left for the United States when the Russians took over their town.
An audio interview with Irving Altus, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Bernie Kent. Mr. Altus was born in 1920, in Czekanów, Poland. Mr. Altus was the middle child in a family consisting of five children, his mother and father, all of whom perished in the Holocaust. Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the Germans arrested Mr. Altus and shipped him to various labor camps throughout Europe, including one in Königsberg, Germany. In 1942, Mr. Altus was shipped to Auschwitz-Birkenau and assigned to an external Labor Kommando approximately 50 miles from the main camp. In 1945, Mr. Altus was forced to march westward towards Germany, eventually coming to Theresienstadt, where he was liberated by the Soviets after one day. After the war, Mr. Altus returned briefly to his hometown and then relocated to Munich, Germany. In 1949, he emigrated to America with his wife and son.
Eugene Arden was a corporal during World War II. Arden's military government unit was attached the United States 7th Army as it travelled into Germany. The unit was responsible for closing down Nazi Labor Camps and for establishing DP Camps. The unit eventually helped liberate Landsberg, a sub-camp of Dachau. After the war, Eugene and his unit spent the post-war period in Heidelberg, Germany.
An interview with Abraham Asner, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Sheri Weisberg. Abraham Asner was born in Nacha, Belarus in 1916. After the war broke out, Abraham and his brothers were sent to Radun ghetto as part of a labor force. They survived the liquidation of the ghetto in 1942 and became part of a partisan organization based in the nearby Natsher Pustshe forest. The brothers engaged in partisan activities and missions until they were liberated in 1945. A few years later, Abraham immigrated to Canada with his wife.
An interview with Peri Berki, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by an unidentified interviewer. Peri Berki was born in 1900 in Hungary. After her husband was deported to a labor camp and their farmland taken away, Peri and her son lived in a ghetto with her sister and at one point, with thirty-nine other people, in a one-bedroom apartment. With the help of her husband and a Gentile innkeeper, they obtained false papers, moved to the Hungarian countryside, and assumed Gentile identities. Throughout the war, they posed as Gentiles, avoiding detection and receiving help from several strangers. When the war ended, the family was reunited and they again obtained false papers to immigrate to the United States.
Szymon Binke was born in 1931 in Łódź, Poland. Shortly after the Nazi invasion his family was moved to the city's Baluty district which became the Łódź ghetto. In 1944 the family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where his mother and sister were gassed. Szymon was placed in the Kinderblock but escaped from it to join his father and uncles in the main camp of Auschwitz. Later he was transferred to a series of forced labor camps until he was liberated in May 1945.
An interview with Eva Boros, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Kay Roth. Eva was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1932. After the German annexation of the area, Eva's father began sending her siblings to Budapest, Hungary. Eva was smuggled there in 1944; however, the German invasion of that country prompted her to return to Bratislava. In September 1944, Eva was sent to the countryside surrounding Bratislava in order to go into hiding. Following the end of the war, Eva immigrated to Israel and then to the United States in 1969.
An interview with Larry Brenner, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Larry Brenner was born in Vásárosnamény, Hungary in 1924. With the outbreak of the war, his father was sent to a forced labor camp and Larry went to live in Budapest to help an aunt run her business. In 1944, Larry was deported to a forced labor camp in J&aactue;szber&eactue;ny, the first of several forced labor camps to which he was sent. Larry was liberated from Gunskirchen, a subcamp of Mauthausen, and after liberation, he spent the next several years finding surviving family members and dodging the Hungarian Army draft. In 1948, Larry immigrated to America.
Dr. Irene Hasenberg Butter was born in Berlin in 1930 but moved to Holland with her family in 1937. In June 1943 the family was deported, first to Westerbork, a transit camp, and then in Feb. 1944 to Bergen-Belsen. The family managed to be included in an exchange transport in early 1945, using falsified Equadorian passports. During the transport her father died. The rest of the family were released and went to North Africa and later moved to New York City after the war ended.
An interview with Bella Camhi, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Bella Camhi was born in Salonika, Greece, ca. 1925. Following the German occupation of Greece, Bella, along with her mother, father and three sisters, was placed in the Salonika Ghetto. In 1943, the family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where everyone, except Bella and another sister, was gassed on arrival. Bella was assigned to work in the "Kanada Kommando" and her younger sister was placed in the "Kinderblock," from where she was later sent to the gas chambers. Sometime in 1944, Bella was moved out of Auschwitz-Birkenau, loaded onto a wagon and later abandoned in an empty field. After being liberated, Bella walked to Munich, Germany. She later returned to Salonika and finally immigrated to the United States sometime in the early 1950s.
Franka Charlupski was born in 1920 and lived with her family in Łódź, Poland. The Weintraubs were in the Łódź ghetto from 1940 until August 1944 when they were transported to Auschwitz and separated. Her mother died in Auschwitz and her father died in a labor camp. Franka and her sister spent three days in Auschwitz before being moved to a labor camp outside of Bremen, Germany. On April 7, 1945 this camp was closed and the inmates were moved to Bergen-Belsen where they were liberated by the British Army on April 15.
An interview with Eva Cigler, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Eva Lipton. Eva Cigler was born in Beregszász, Czechoslovakia in 1926. After the Hungarian annexation of the area, Eva's family, consisting of her mother, father, four sisters and one brother, experienced increasing anti-Semitism from the Hungarians. In 1944, the family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where her mother, father, brother, and one sister were gassed. After some time in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Eva was transported to an unspecified satellite camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. From there she was sent to Bergen-Belsen where she was liberated. After spending some time in a Displaced Persons Camp in Celle, Germany, Eva returned to Beregszász for a brief time. From there she went to Prague and immigrated to the United States.
An interview with Barbara Schechter Cohen, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Mrs. Schechter Cohen, born in 1941, is child survivor of the Holocaust. Following the outbreak of the war, Barbara and her mother were seperated from her father. Travelling on forged papers, Barbara and her mother went to Austria, where he mother worked. Following the end of the war, the two were placed in a DP camp outside of Stuttgart Germany, where they were reunited with Barbara's father. The family emigrated to the United States in 1946.
An interview with Regina Cohen, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Regina Cohen was born in Chust, Czechoslovakia in 1929. She was the fifth child of nine in a middle class Orthodox family. She and her family were sent to the ghetto in Chust and then were deported to Auschwitz in spring 1944. After a few months, she was selected to work in a Siemens factory near Nuremberg. She was then moved to a factory in Nuremberg where the American Army liberated her. Regina went home to Chust to find her only surviving family, one sister and one brother. Regina and her sister moved out of Russian occupied Czechoslovakia into a DP camp in Heidenheim, Germany where they stayed for three years. Regina continued her education in the DP camp and learned English in order to move to Montreal to be a mother's helper for a Jewish family. She met her husband in Windsor and soon moved to Detroit to start her family.
Simon Cymerath 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.
An interview with Bert Dan, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Kay Roth. Bert Dan was born in Cluj, Romania in 1916. He served as a soldier in the Romanian army at the outbreak of World War II. After the Hungarians occupied Romania, he was arrested and imprisoned for a year; upon his release Bert was drafted into various labor camps and work details throughout Eastern Europe. During a forced march back to Hungary, he escaped with a group of other prisoners and was found by the Russian army. He was freed and eventually returned to Cluj. Bert began to work with Jewish committees helping to locate and assist Hungarian and Romanian Jews returning to their homes from Poland. He eventually set up a committee office in Prague, Czechoslovakia where he was reunited with his fiancée. They married after the end of the war and immigrated to the United States in 1949.
An interview with Clara Dan, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Kay Roth. Clara Dan was born in Tîrgu-Mures, Romania (later Hungary) in 1921. Clara was the youngest of three siblings. In the spring of 1944, Clara, her sister and her parents were rounded up and placed in a makeshift ghetto in Koloszvar, Hungary. After several weeks there, they were shipped to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Clara and her sister survived the selection on the ramp and were reunited in the camp. After some time in Auschwitz, Clara and her sister were sent to work in a bullet factory in Hundsfeld. When the Russians came too close to the area, the sisters were marched to Gross Rosen and then sent to Bergen-Belsen where the British Army liberated them. After the war, Clara and her sister were placed in a DP camp in Celle, Germany where they were reunited with their brother.
Born in a small town in Hungary, Mrs. Denes moved to Budapest in 1940 with her husband. Her husband was taken to labor camps several times between 1940 and the end of the war. When the Germans occupied Budapest in 1944, Mrs. Denes had two small children, Judy and George. Using false papers, she assumed the identity of an unwed mother and was treated as such by the people around her. She was in Budapest when the Soviet army liberated it. Her husband returned soon after the liberation. Again using false papers, the family fled Hungary after the war and eventually settled in Detroit, Michigan in 1955.
Born in Glowaczow, Poland in 1922, Henry Dorfman was one of four children
in a large Orthodox family. Following the German invasion of Poland in September
1939, the Dorfman family continued to live in Glowaczow under an increasing
amount of persecution from the Nazi occupation forces. The family was relocated
to a large ghetto in Kozienice in 1941. While in the ghetto, Henry and his
father were separated from his mother and three siblings and used as laborers
on the estate of a Volksdeutsche (native German) aristocrat. Sometime in the
fall of 1942, the entire Dorfman family was rounded-up and put on a transport
to the Treblinka death camp. Once again, separated from his mother and siblings,
Henry and his father escaped from the train. His mother and siblings died
en route to, or immediately upon arrival at Treblinka. Following their escape,
Henry and his father hid in a barn and were given assistance by one of the
workers employed by the Volksdeutsche aristocrat. Later they served in a partisan
unit until the area was liberated by the Soviet Army in 1944. Henry remained
in Europe for several years following the end of the war, helping his father
establish two businesses in Łódź, Poland and establishing his own in Germany.
He later moved to the United States with his wife, Mala, whom he met in Poland
after the war.
Mala Weintraub Dorfman was born in Łódź, Poland in 1923.
When the war broke out in 1939, Mala and three of her five siblings were sent to
live with their grandmother in the Kozienice ghetto. Mala worked as a nurse in
the ghetto until she was deported to Skarzysko where she worked in an
ammunitions factory for two years. She was then deported to Częstochowa where
she was liberated a year later by the Russians. After the war, Mala returned to
Łódź, married, and was soon reunited with her sisters at Bergen-Belsen. Mala
lived with her husband in Germany until their immigration to the United States
in 1949.
Noemi Engel Ebenstein, born in 1941, is a child survivor of the Holocaust. In her interview she retells stories told to her by her mother about how the family survived the Holocaust. Her father was sent to a forced labor camp when Noemi was a baby. In May 1944, Noemi, her brother and mother were deported from Subotica, Yugoslavia to the camps, first to Strasshof labor and then to Moosbierbaum where they were liberated by the Soviet army.
Alexander Ehrmann was born in Kralovsky Chlumec, Czechoslovakia, which became part of Hungary in 1938. His family consisted of himself, his parents, two brothers and three sisters. In 1944 the family was deported to a ghetto and then to Auschwitz where his parents, a sister and her son were killed. After the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto ended, Mr. Ehrmann was transferred from Auschwitz to Warsaw with a labor group to salvage materials from the ghetto. After spending five days in Dachau, he was transferred to Mühldorf, where the inmates were building an underground aircraft factory. When the camp was evacuated, Mr. Ehrmann and other inmates were put on a train and moved back and forth in the unoccupied area until they were liberated by American troops. After the war he was reunited with two sisters and his younger brother.
An interview with Anne Eisenberg a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Charlene Green. Anne Eisenberg was born in Slatinske Doly, in Czechoslovakia. As a child, she and her family moved to Sighet. Following the Hungarian annexation of Sighet, Anne's father and brothers were conscripted by Hungarian authorities and sent away for forced labor. In 1944, Annie, along with her sisters, mother and aunt were placed in the ghetto in Sighet and then deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where only her and one sister survived. They were then shipped to the forced labor camp Gelsenkirchen and then to Sömmerda. They were liberated near Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1945. Anne was then placed in a DP camp near Linz, Austria. Following a return to Sighet, she immigrated to the United States.
An interview with Luba Elbaum, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Arthur Kirsch. Luba Elbaum was born on Jan. 10, 1923 in Lublin, Poland. When the war broke out, she worked with her family for the Germans. While her family was taken to the ghettos in Lublin and Belzyce, Luba worked on a farm for the Germans. In 1941 she was deported to Budzyn to be a housemaid for the Oberscharführer Felix. A year later, Luba was deported to Płaszów for work detail, then to Auschwitz. In 1944, she was transported to Bergen-Belsen where she was selected along with 300 other girls to be deported to Aschersleben to work. Luba was then forced on a six-week death march to Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia where she was liberated on May 8, 1945.
An interview with Isaac Engel, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Issac Engel was born in Zwolén, Poland ca. 1921. Following the German invasion in 1939, Issac and his family hid from the Germans in the village of Zileonka. Shortly there after, the family was separated and Issac moved between local villages. In 1942, Isaac's family left hiding and went to the town of Ciepielów, where they were rounded-up by the Germans and either killed on the spot or deported to Treblinka. Issac was sent to Skarzysko-Kamienna as a forced laborer for the Hugo Schneider Aktiengesellschaft (HASAG). From Skarzysko-Kamienna, Issac was sent to Gross-Rosen, Nordhausen, Dora and Bergen-Belsen. After liberation, Mr. Engel was placed in the DP Camp at Celle, where he remained until 1949.
An interview with Eugene Feldman, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Eugene Feldman was born in the late 1920s in Glinka, Poland. Situated in the Soviet zone of occupation after 1939, Glinka was under Soviet rule until 1941. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Eugene and his family were sent to the nearby ghetto in Stolin. During an Aktion, Eugene, his father, stepmother, and cousin hid from the Germans, escaped from the ghetto and returned to Glinka. They left the village and hid in the countryside, following a band of partisans through White Russia (Belarus). After the war, Eugene went to Lódz, Poland and then on to a DP camp in Freimann, Germany. From there he immigrated to the United States.
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.
An interview with Lily Fenster, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney
Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Lily Fenster
was born in Warsaw Poland in 1926. After the German invasion of Poland, Lily,
along with her mother, father and five sisters, was placed in the Warsaw Ghetto.
After some time, Lily was able to escape from the ghetto, leaving her family behind.
In the ghetto, her four sisters died from hunger and her father disappeared. After
making her way to Łuków Podlaski, Lily was able to work on a farm
and raised enough money to have her mother smuggled from the ghetto. Within six
weeks of the reunion, Lily's mother was deported to Treblinka. Lily, having obtained
a Kennkarte, and hiding among the Gentile population was able to evade capture.
After her mother's deportation, Lily moved into the main city of Łuków
Podlaski, where she obtained work as a nurse, until the Russian liberation. While
in Łuków Podlaski she met her future husband. After the war, Lily,
along with several others, made her way to Łódź and then on to
Germany. She emigrated to the United States in 1951.
Fred Ferber was born in 1930 in Swietchlowice,
Poland in 1930. In 1933, the Ferber family re-located to Chorzow, Poland and
then on to Kraków, Poland ca. 1936. Following the German invasion, the Ferbers
were forced into the Kraków Ghetto located in Podgorze. In 1943, the family
was rounded-up and sent to the Płaszów forced labor camp on the outskirts
of Kraków. While in Płaszów, Fred's father was murdered by the camp's Kommandant,
Amon Goethe. Fred worked in the metal and fabric shops in the camp while his
mother worked in a labor detail. Fred's brother was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau
where he died. Fred was separated from his mother when he was transferred
with a number of other prisoners to the Mauthausen forced labor camp in Austria.
From there, he was transferred to Gusen II and then to Gunskirchen (both sub-camps
of Mauthausen). He was liberated by the American Army in May 1945. Following
liberation and a short stay in a Displaced Persons Camp where he recuperated
from typhus and dysentery, he returned to Poland to find his family. He was
reunited with his mother in Sopot, Poland. After finding his mother and learning
the fate of his brother, he moved around Europe until the late 1940s, when
he immigrated to America. While in America, Fred stayed in an orphanage in
San Francisco while attending school and college.
Miriam Monczyk-Laczkowska Ferber was born in 1942, in Sosnowiec, Poland. In 1942, Miriam and her family were moved to the Srodula ghetto on the outskirts of Sosnowiec. The Nazis murdered Miriam's father in the ghetto. Miriam's mother asked the Laczkowska family, prior neighbor and Polish family to take the infant Miriam in until her mother could retrun and reunite with her. The Laczkowska's smuggled Miriam out of the ghetto, however, Miriam's mother and brother were deported to a death camp and likely, were murdered upon arrival. Miriam spent the remainder of the war in the care of the Laczkowskas. She was portrayed by the family as the illegtimate daughter of the oldest Laczkowska child and raised as a Polish Catholic. Near the end of the war, Mr. Laczkowska was deported to Gusen, a sub-camp of Mauthausen, where he died of typhus. Following the end of the war, Miriam continued her life as a Polish Catholic. While still a teenager, Miriam found out about her Jewish background. As part of a program developed by the Lubavitcher Rebbe to bring European Jews to America, Miriam was purposely seperated from her mother and brought to America.
Charlotte Firestone, born in Munkacs, Czechoslovakia, relates her experiences in Czechoslovakia and Poland before, during and after the war. Prior to the birth of her son in August 1942, her husband was taken to the Soviet Union where he was imprisoned and remained throughout the war. Mrs. Firestone and her son moved in with her parents. After the German occupation of Munkacs in 1944, they were rounded up and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where her mother and son were gassed upon arrival. After a short time in Birkenau, Mrs. Firestone and her sister were sent to Stutthof, another concentration camp in Poland, then they were relocated to Praust, a sub-camp. While in Stutthof, Mrs. Firestone was made a Stubälteste and in that capacity, served as a senior inmate in charge of the barrack. After spending six months in Praust, the sisters were evacuated. While on the march west, they managed to escape, evading capture by posing as Hungarian nurses. Later she was reunited with her husband and emigrated to the United States in 1955.
An interview with Nancy Furdonski, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Charlene Green. Nancy Furdonski was born in Zlozew, Poland. Following the Nazi invasion of Poland, Nancy, along with her mother, father and several siblings, fled to the nearby town of Zdunska Wola, where Nancy's two older sisters lived. Following a brief stay there, Nancy, along with one sister and brother, went to stay with their grandmother in Szadek, Poland. After some time, Nancy and her family returned to Zdunska Wola where they remained in the ghetto until 1942. When the Germans liquidated the Zdunska Wola ghetto in 1942, Nancy and two sisters were sent to the Lodz Ghetto and many of her other family members were deported and murdered. Following the liquidation of the Łódź Ghetto, Nancy and her sisters were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After a brief time, they were shipped to Stutthof, where her older sister perished, and then to Dresden. Following the bombings of that city, Nancy and her sister were sent on a forced march to Theresienstadt. During the march, they escaped and hid on a farm near Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary) where they were liberated by the American army. After a brief return to Poland, Nancy immigrated to America. Of her nine siblings, only a sister and a brother survived.
Hilma Geffen was born in Berlin in 1925 and was an only child. Her father served in the German Army during World War I and was awarded the Iron Cross. In 1931 the family moved to Rangsdorf, a suburb of Berlin, where they were the only Jewish family in town. Her father, an accountant, continued to commute to Berlin for work. A couple of nights after Kristallnacht in 1938, SA men came to the house and smashed the furniture. In 1939 the family moved back to Berlin because Jews could no longer own property. As Hilma was returning home after work in October 1941, her mother told her to run away because people were there to pick them up. Using false papers, Hilma went underground, living with a German couple who knew only that she was Jewish. She remained "hidden" with them until the end of the war, then moved to Miami Beach where she had relatives. Her parents were deported to Auschwitz and did not survive the war.
An interview with Vera Gissing, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Vera Gissing was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1928. She lived in Celakovice, outside of Prague, with her mother, father, and sister, Eva. After the Germans invaded their town, Vera's mother contacted Nicholas Winton about having the girls sent to England. Vera and her sister left Czechoslovakia in July 1939 and were put into foster care with two separate families. Vera stayed with the Rainfords, a poor Christian family, before enrolling in a Czech refugee school in England where she spent the duration of the war. After the war, Vera went back to Prague to study and became a literary translator but eventually moved back to England. While being interviewed by the Welsh BBC, Vera revealed her diaries that she kept of her experience during the war and decided to translate and publish the entries in the book Pearls of Childhood.
Simon Goldman was born in Łódź, Poland. He had three brothers and one sister. His father owned a moving business while his mother stayed at home. Shortly after the German occupation of Łódź, his mother passed away and his father moved the family to a small town near Czestochowa, Poland. There the family moved into a relative's house. Simon and his brother worked in a bakery. Simon passed himself off as a Polish orphan to obtain work at a farm where he stayed incognito for the duration of the war in 1942. After the war he went back to Łódź looking for his brother and other family in 1945. After getting into trouble by the police for being involved with the black market in Łódź, Simon decided to go to Linz, Austria to find his other cousin. After being detained for not having papers he made it to Linz on Yom Kippur day and found his cousin at the DP Camp. He eventually became arrested by the CIA for being involved in another black market in the DP Camp but was released after thirty days. After that he registered with the U.S. Committee to move to America. Simon was sent to New York in December 1946 and then the Jewish Health System eventually set him up with a family in Detroit.
Erna Blitzer Gorman relates her experiences as a child when she and her family were in Poland at the time of the Nazi invasion and were unable to return to their home in France. After living in various ghettos, they escaped and were hidden for more than two years in a barn by a Ukrainian farmer until the area was liberated by Russian soldiers.
An interview with Anna Greenberger, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Kay Roth. Anna Greenberger was born in Koromla, Czechoslovakia in 1924, and moved to Sobrance, Czechoslovakia soon after. During the Hungarian occupation, her father was taken to a labor camp in Russia and her fiancée was forced to serve in the Hungarian Army. After the German occupation of Hungary in 1944, Anna, her mother and her four sisters were forced into the Uzhgorod ghetto. Two months later they were transferred to Auschwitz where they stayed until August. Then Anna and her family were transferred to Lübberstedt, a forced labor camp, where they manufactured ammunition. After liberation by the British while on a death march, Anna spent time in a typhoid hospital in Neustadt before returning to Sobrance with her family. In Sobrance she was reunited with her fiancée, married him and started a family before moving to Israel. From Israel, her family moved to Rome and to Paraguay before settling in the United States in 1955.
An interview with Emerich Grinbaum, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan—Dearborn. Mr. Grinbaum was born in Munkacs, Czechoslovakia in 1930. After the Hungarian annexation of Munkacs in 1938, Emerich, along with his father, mother and brother experienced increased anti-Semitism under the Hungarians. In 1944, Germany invaded Hungary and the Grinbaum family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Emerich’s mother was gassed upon arrival and after less than a week in Birkenau, Emerich, his father and brother were shipped to a labor camp just outside of Warsaw, Poland. In August, 1944, the three were sent to Dachau. In Dachau, Emerich’s father became ill and was sent to the camp hospital. During this period, Emerich and his brother were sent to one of Dachau’s satellite camps, Allach. In Allach, Emerich worked on several labor Kommandos, including the BMW factory and as a potato peeler in the camp kitchen. While in Allach, Mr. Grinbaum’s father was reunited with him and his brother and placed in a block for elderly people. In April 1945, the three were placed aboard and train and shipped to an unknown destination. While en route, the German’s abandoned the train and the three walked to a nearby village where they were liberated by the American Army. After liberation, they returned to Munkacs, now under Soviet rule as part of the Ukraine. Mr. Grinbaum studied medicine under the Soviets. He emigrated to the United States in the 1960s.
Joseph Gringlas was born in Ostrowiec, Poland. Following the German invasion, Mr. Gringlas was seperated from his family and transported to a forced-labor camp in Blizyn, Poland. After approximately one year, he was transferred first to Auschwitz-Birkenau and the to the sub-camp, Monowitz, where he was reunited with his brother. In 1945, the camp was liquidated and Mr. Gringlas was sent on a forced-march to Gleiwitz and then on to Dora-Nordhausen, where he and his brother were liberated. After the war, Mr. Gringlas spent several years in Landsberg, Germany, emigrating to the United States in 1951.
Jack Gun was born in Rozhishche, Poland, where he lived with his father, mother and older brother and sister. Rozhishche was later annexed into the Ukraine by the Soviets at the outbreak of the war in September 1939. With the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Gun family was forced to move into a make-shift ghetto in the city where they were used as forced laborers. In August of 1942, the ghetto was liquidated by the Germans and Jack's father, mother and sister were killed. Jack and his brother managed to flee and received help from their father's non-Jewish friend. Upon this man's urging, Jack and his brother hid first in the woods and then in a bunker they dug in a field. After several near-misses with the occupation authorities, the two were hidden in a non-Jewish Ukrainian household where they remained until the Russians liberated the Ukraine in 1944.
Mr. Hasenberg was born in Germany and relates his experiences growing up under the Nazi regime until his family moved to Amsterdam, Holland in 1937. In June of 1943 the family was deported to Westerbork, a transit camp, and then to Bergen-Belsen in Feb. 1944. The family managed to be included in an exchange transport in January 1945 using Ecuadorian papers made available by a family friend in Sweden. During the transport, Mr. Hasenberg's father died. After arriving in Switzerland, the rest of the family were released and briefly separated until they were reunited in New York in 1946.
An interview with Abraham Holcman, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Larry Berg. Abraham Holcman was born in 1925 in Łódź Poland. After the Nazi invasion, his family was moved into the Łódź ghetto where his father died of starvation. Abraham worked in a factory until 1944 when the family was deported to Auschwitz. Several weeks later, Abraham and his mother were sent to Görlitz where they were liberated in 1945. Abraham spent some time in a DP camp in Frankfurt and reunited with his sister in Sweden. In 1953, he immigrated to the United States.
An interview with Esther Feldman Icikson, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Mrs. Feldman Icikson was born in Chelm, Poland ca, 1935. After the German invasion in 1939, the family was sent to several different cities in the Ukraine and White Russia, including Opalin, Lebivne and Giesen. At this time, her father and uncle were arrested by the authorities and shipped to a prison in Asino in Siberia. Esther, along with her mother and two sisters, was sent farther east to Sibiryak. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 her father and uncle were released under a general amnesty. The family was reunited in Asino, after Esther's mother took the family back to Asino via a home-built raft. At the end of 1942, the family was resettled in Kyrgyzstan, where they remined until they end of the war in 1945. Following the end of the war, the family returned to Chelm and then moved on to a DP camp in Ulm, Germany. From there they made there way to Israel, where they lived in Lut. Esther emigrated to the United States in 1958.
An interview with Lanka Ilkow, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Lanka Ilkow was born in Novoseliza, Czechoslovakia (Ukraine) in 1920. Following the Hungarian annexation of parts of Slovakia, she and her family lived under Hungarian rule. In 1944, the family was shipped to a ghetto in Ungvar. From there they were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau where her father was gassed upon arrival. While in Auschwitz, Lanka's mother was later "selected" for extermination and Lanka and her sister were sent to the forced labor camp Hundsfeld, near Breslau. From there they were shipped to Gross Rosen, Mauthausen and finally, Bergen-Belsen, where the British army liberated them.
Born in 1928, in Gheorgheni, Romania, David Kahan was part of a large extended family, consisting of his mother, father, several siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins. In April 1944, the Germans invaded Hungary and immediately began the full-scale persecution of Hungarian Jewry. The Kahan family was detained by Hungarian Gendarmerie and placed in a school room for several days. After their initial detainment, the family was shipped to an ad hoc ghetto in Szaszregen. The family remained incarcerated in a brick factory in Szaszregen for approximately four weeks and were then shipped to Auschwitz. Upon arrival in Auschwitz, David was separated from his family, who were gassed and David was shaved, deloused and held for future use on work details. Of the camp itself, David remembers very few details. After approximately four weeks, David was shipped to the Müldorf labor camp in Southern Germany. While there, David worked for Organization Todt, clearing trees for the construction of an underground airplane factory. David contacted typhus after he was liberated and was hospitalized in the DP Camp at Feldafing. Following his recovery, David showed no desire to return to Romania and made his way to the United States, arriving in New York in May 1949. From New York, David moved to Minneapolis and eventually made his way to Detroit in ca. 1950. He married in 1953 and had three sons. An earlier audio interview is also available: OCLC# 49392609.
An interview with Simon Kalmas, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Arthur Kirsch. Simon Kalmas was born in Drobin, Poland in 1915. As a boy he learned the trade of tinsmithing. After the German invasion of Poland, Simon and the men of his town were taken and held in another city for five days before being returned home and told to move into the Drobin ghetto; later moving to the Neustadt Oberschlesien ghetto. Simon had the chance to escape to Russia but chose to stay with his family in Poland. The family remained together until 1942 when they were deported to Auschwitz. Simon was chosen for work in the coal mines of IG Farben Industry before being selected for his tinsmithing skills to repair the roofs of bombarded barracks from 1944 until 1945. After that, Simon was forced to march to Gleiwitz in a snowstorm to catch a transport train to Buchenwald where he was liberated. Simon moved to Nashville, Tennessee in April 1949 but moved permanently to Detroit in January 1950 because of the racism he saw happening against African Americans in the South.
Alexander Karp was born in Baktaloranthaza, a small town in Hungary. In 1944, when he was about 19 years old, his family was moved into the Kisvarda ghetto. His immediate family consisted of his mother and 15 year old sister, his father had been taken prisoner in Russia in 1942 and the family did not know if he was alive or dead. The family was transported to Birkenau where Mr. Karp was separated from his mother and sister. He and an uncle spent about 4 months in Birkenau. Claiming to be tool and die makers, they were sent to several different camps eventually ending up at an underground airplane factory in the Kochendorf area. In March 1945, they were evacuated to Dachau and then to Mittenwald, a town close to the Austrian border, where they were liberated. In August 1945 he was reunited with his father.
An interview with Louis Kaye, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Arthur Kirsch. Louis Kaye was born in Wloszczowa, Poland in 1925. When the war broke out, Louis and his family were moved into a ghetto where they lived until his parents and most of siblings were sent to Treblinka while Louis and two of his brothers were sent to Skarzysko. Louis worked in an ammunitions factory for two years until he was sent to Czestochowa, Buchenwald, and finally Dora-Nordhausen where he was liberated April 11, 1945. Several years after liberation, Louis immigrated to the United States and in 1969, built a monument in the United States to memorialize his family and his birth city.
Ruth Kent was born in Łódź, Poland and lived with her family in the
Łódź ghetto until it was liquidated in 1944. The family was then sent
to Auschwitz where they were separated and some family members were immediately
put to death. Ruth and a sister were sent to Stutthof, a labor camp, where
they were later separated. Ruth survived a forced march as the Germans evacuated
the camps in the face of the advancing Russian army. She was liberated by
the Russians and was reunited with two brothers after the war.
The Klein brothers were born in Humenné, a town in eastern Slovakia.
The immediate family of the brothers included their parents and a younger
sister. The Germans occupied the area in 1939 and started to deport the Jews
in 1941. The Klein family was not deported until 1944 because Mr. Klein was
an important farming advisor. The family was sent to Auschwitz without Bernard,
who had become separated. Mrs. Klein and her daughter were immediately gassed
upon arrival at the camp. Bernard was reunited with his brother and father
at Auschwitz a month later. The three were sent to Gleiwitz where Emery and
his father worked in a factory while Bernard worked in the concentration camp
kitchen. In 1945, as the Russian army advanced into the area, the camp was
evacuated to Blechhammer, another camp in the vicinity. The German guards
fled the camp, leaving the prisoners. A few days later, the brothers, their
father and several others began walking back to Humenné. The Klein
family moved to Israel, Montreal and eventually to Detroit.
An interview with Mr. Martin Koby, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Martin Koby was born in Rovno, Poland in 1930. During the 1930s, Mr. Koby along with his mother, father and brother moved to the neighboring village of Giuszwica. During the pre-war period, Martin and his family experienced several incidents of anti-Semitism, especially during Christian holidays. In 1939, the Soviet Union annexed Eastern Poland as part of a secret agreement contained in the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact and Giuszwica came under Soviet control. Under Soviet rule, Martin and his family lived a relatively normal life. In Summer 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union and Giuszwica came under German control. Under German rule, anti-Semitism increased among the local population and Martin’s father was abducted and beaten by members of the Ukrainian Liberation Army (UPA). Martin’s father was released and due to the influence of a wealthy Polish landowner, the family was sent to work on an estate, rather than sent to the newly established Jewish Ghetto in Rovno. In September 1942, Martin’s family, hearing news of the liquidation of the Rovno Ghetto, went into hiding. Between 1942 and 1944, the family hid in six different locations in and around Giuszwica, usually with the knowledge and complicity of the local population. In February 1944, the Soviets liberated the area and the family moved to Rovno. In late 1945, they were allowed by the Soviet government to relocate to Poland and moved to Bytom, near Katowice. Sometime in 1946 or 1947, the family traveled to a Displaced Persons Camp (The Sedan Kaserne) in Ulm, Germany. From there they made their way to the United States.
An interview with Henry Konstam, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Born in Łódź, Poland, Henry Konstam and his five siblings were deported to the Łódź ghetto in 1940. In the ghetto, Henry volunteered to go to a labor camp in Gronow where he remained for two and a half years until he was sent to a labor camp in Posen. From Posen, Henry was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later to Jaworzno. In the last days of the war, Henry survived a march from Jaworzno to Dachau before escaping into the surrounding woods. After crawling to a nearby farm for food, he was captured and imprisoned in a German jail until the end of the war that occurred a few days later. Henry was reunited, after the war, with his only surviving family members, his brother and sister.
An interview with Marvin Kozlowski, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Marvin Kozlowski was born in Radom, Poland in 1920. Following the German invasion of Poland, Mr. Kozlowski and his family were placed in the Radom Ghetto, where Mr. Kozlowski worked as a forced laborer for Daimler-Benz. While in the ghetto, Mr. Kozlowski's mother and three siblings were deported to the Treblinka death camp. Following the liquidation of the ghetto in 1944, Mr. Kozlowski, along with his father, were marched to Tomaszów where they were put on a train and shipped to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Upon arrival there, they were immediately sent to an unidentified labor camp in Western Germany. After a brief time, they were sent to Unterriexingen, a labor sub-kommando of Natzweiler Concentration Camp. After one month, the camp was liquidated and Marvin and his father were liberated near Osterburken, Germany, while en-route to an unknown destination.
Henry Krystal was born in Sosnowiec, Poland in 1925. Shortly after the Nazi invasion, Henry's brother and then father escaped to the Soviet occupied zone of Poland while Henry and his mother lived in Bodzentyn, Poland. In 1942 Henry was sent to a labor camp and his mother sent to Treblinka where she died. From 1942 until the end of the war, Henry was a member of a labor Kommando sent from place to place, including Starachowice, Bobrek, Birkenau, Siemensstadt and Sachsenhausen. He worked in a factory operated by the Siemens company. At the end of the war he was in the city of Schwerin, in the British occupied zone of Germany. In 1947 Henry immigrated to Detroit, Michigan where he lived with an aunt and uncle, went to school and became a psychiatrist.
Stefa Kupfer was ten years old and living in Sanok, Poland when the war started. Her father was killed in the early days of the occupation. Stefa, her mother and young sister went into hiding instead of registering with the occupational government. Mrs. Orlewska, a Polish woman, played a significant role in their survival by hiding them in her house. They were also aided by other Poles, some of whom knew they were Jews.
An interview with Helen Lang, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Helen Lang was born in Munkacs, Czechoslovakia. Following the Hungarian annexation of the area, Helen went to work in Budapest to help support her family. While visiting her family during Pesach in 1944, the Germans came into the city and shipped Helen and her family to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After a month in Birkenau, Helen and her sister were transferred to Stutthof, where Helen was made a Blockältester. Helen and her sister were then shipped to Praust, a brand new camp, where she was a maid for the SS guards, and secured her sister as a Blockältester as well. When the Russians neared Praust the camp was evacuated and Helen, her sister, and a friend escaped the march,posing as Hungarian Gentiles. They met a group of SS doctors who took them to Denmark to stay for the duration of the war. After the war, Helen stayed in the Lübeck DP camp in Germany and moved to Prague to reunite with her family.
Alfred Lessing recalls his experiences living with other families as a hidden child in the Netherlands during the war. He talks about the last year of the war when he was reunited and lived with his father and brothers.
Born in Paris, France in 1937, Rene is the only son of Polish immigrants who arrived in France in the 1930s. Rene's father joined the French Army shortly before the outbreak of World War Two. After the German invasion of the Benelux countries in May 1940, his father was killed in action just outside of Paris in Compiégne. After the fall of France, Rene's mother sent to him to stay with a family in the countryside and it was there that he was kept hidden from the Germans for the remainder of the war and his mother went into hiding in Paris in 1942. Although Rene and his mother survived the war, most of his maternal and paternal family members in Poland were murdered by the Germans. In 1950, Rene's mother married an American Orthodox Jew and the two moved from France to Williamsburg, New York. An audio interview from 1992 is also available: OCLC# 45257583.
Leo Liffman was born and raised in Wiesbaden, Germany. He relates his experiences with anti-Semitism as a child and young adult during the closing years of the Weimar Republic and the early Hitler years. He was arrested during Kristallnacht and imprisoned for several weeks at Buchenwald concentration camp. He left Germany in 1939, leaving his parents behind, and was the only member of his family to survive the war.
Esther Lupian was born in Minsk, Belorussia in 1936. Prior to the war, her father was proclaimed a dissident and was sent northward while her mother was left to take care of Esther and her brother Gresha. After the Germans occupied Minsk, the family was sent to the ghetto where they lived for two years. Gresha joined the partisans, was captured by the Germans, and sent to a death camp. Escaping the liquidation of the ghetto, Esther and her mother allied themselves with a group of partisans living in a nearby forest until they were liberated in 1945. Shortly thereafter, they were reunited with her father. Esther continued to live in Minsk until 1988 when she immigrated to the United States with her own children.
An interview with Felina Lusopolus, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dawn Miller. Felina Lusopolus (maiden name Greenberg) was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1919. Her mother died when Felina was just two and a half years old. Her father, who worked in the lumber business until he died at the age of 49, sent his daughter to boarding school. After her father's death, Felina moved in with her grandmother in Chernowitz, finished high school, went to college and got a degree in teaching. Felina moved to Oradea to become a teacher and became engaged to a Jewish lawyer who was sent to the Russian front. After the ghetto was started in Oradea, Felina was sent to Auschwitz. She was then sent to a camp called Langenbielau-Biewala (a sub-camp of Gross Rosen) near Reichenbach and then sent to Parschnitz. The last camp she was sent to was in the Sudetenland and she worked in a factory making airplane parts. After the Russians liberated the camp, Felina started her long journey back home to Oradea where she found out her fiancé had died on his way home to see her. She acquired a job translating Hungarian movies left behind after the war into Romanian. She married a Gentile Greek professor and had one daughter. The Communists imprisoned her husband after he told two jokes in his classroom that offended the regime. Weakened by his ordeal, he died in 1957, three years after being released. Felina applied for a passport out of Communist Romania after his death. She was granted the passport and moved first to Paris, then Belgium, Germany and finally to the United States where she moved in with her aunts in Detroit.
Born in Poland, Helena was one of eight children, all of whom were adults at the beginning of the war. After the German invasion in 1939, the family separated and Helen, along with several siblings and their father went to Lwów, which was under Soviet control at the time. In June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union and occupied Lwów. Helena's father and brothers were sent to Belzec, where they died in the gas chambers. Helena and her husband were moved to Lesko and then on to Zamosc. Because Helena's husband was a doctor, the Germans sent them to a labor camp in Rokitna. They eventually escaped and made their way to Kraków, where they remained in hiding until the end of the war.
An interview with John Mandel, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Charlene Green. John Mandel was born in 1927? in Munkacs, Czechoslovakia. After the Hungarian annexation of the area in 1938, John and his family suffered increasing persecution in the Hungarian regime. The family was deported to Birkenau in May 1944. John's mother, sister and two younger brothers were gassed upon arrival and John was separated from his father and another brother when he was transferred to Auschwitz I. After about seven months in Auschwitz I, John was transferred to Mauthausen then to Melk and finally to Ebensee (both sub-camps of Mauthausen), where he was liberated by the American Army in spring, 1945. After liberation, John went to the Displaced Persons Camp at Gabersee and in 1946, he emigrated to the United States.
Herman Marczak was born in Zloczew, Poland on January 25, 1920, but lived for most of his childhood in Zdunska Wola with his family. At the start of the war, Herman and his family were forced into the Zdunska Wola ghetto where he worked at a shoe factory for a German to earn money. After his family was sent to Chelmno, he was transferred to the Lódz ghetto in 1942. From there he was sent to various labor camps including Skarzysko-Kammiena to manufacture ammunition for the Germans. After being liberated from a military base outside of Bergen-Belsen on April 25, 1945, Herman stayed in the Bergen-Belsen DP camp. He obtained a letter from a doctor in the DP camp allowing him to move to Sweden where he met his wife and had a daughter. They moved to the United States in 1957.
An interview with Simon Maroko, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Dr. Simon Maroko was born in Tarnów, Poland in 1923. Shortly after his birth, Dr. Maroko's family relocated to Bratislava, Czechoslovakia and then to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In 1943, Simon's parents were deported to Westerbork and most likely from there to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Following the deportation, Dr. Maroko went into hiding on a farm outside of Amsterdam. He was liberated in May 1945. He immigrated to Israel where he served in the Israeli Army. Following that, he immigrated to the United States.
An interview with Lucy Glaser Merritt, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Lucy Glaser Merritt was born in Vienna, Austria in 1920. Following the German annexation (Anschluss) of Austria in 1938, Lucy and her family experienced increased persecution by both Austrian and German National Socialists. After Lucy's father was arrested and released on Kristallnacht (1938), the family decided to leave Austria. Lucy left Austria to work as a nurse in England. Once there, she was able to secure the passage of her family from Austria to England. From England, they immigrated to the United States.
An interview with Paul Molnar, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Paul Molnar was born in 1929 in Rákospalota, a suburb of Budapest, Hungary. Following the outbreak of the war, Paul and his family came under increasing persecution by the pro-German Hungarian government. In 1944, his father was sent to a labor camp and in July Paul, along with his mother, brother and grandmother, were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After arrival, Paul's mother, brother and grandmother were gassed. After a brief time in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Paul was sent to Buchenwald and then to Magdeburg where he worked at a factory run by I.G. Farben. He then returned briefly to Buchenwald and then was sent to another camp, Berga. In April 1945, Paul was evacuated from Berga and while marching to an unknown destination, he escaped and was liberated. Paul later immigrated to the United States.
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.
Nathan Nothman was born on July 15, 1925 in Krakow, Poland. Following the German invasion of Poland, he, his parents, and his three brothers and sister were forced to move into the Krakow-Płaszów ghetto. Nathan and his father worked for the Nazis as plumbers and were allowed to leave the ghetto for work until his father was sent to Auschwitz and killed. In 1943 when the ghetto was liquidated, Nathan was then sent to the Płaszów concentration camp and then to Gross-Rosen in 1944 and was assigned to work detail on the Steinburg in both camps. He was then sent to Flossenburg to work on the railroads in 1945. Nathan and his friend escaped during a death march and walked to Laufen to be rescued by the American Army. He stayed in the Laufen DP camp and then transferred to the Ainring DP camp where he met and married his wife. Nathan was also reunited with his sister and mother after the war and together they moved to the United States in 1950.
Sonia Nothman was born in Chmielnik, Poland in 1922. When the war started, Sonia was visiting family in Łódź. She returned to Chmielnik, but due to her Polish language skills, was able to move between Chmielnik and Łódź. In 1941, a ghetto was established in Chmilenik and Sonia, along with her family, was placed in the ghetto. In 1942, Sonia, her brother and one sister were deported to the Skarzysko-Kamienna forced labor camp. In 1944, Sonia was sent to Czenstochow. From there she was sent west into Germany proper where she and her sister were marched to several labor camps (Bergen-Belsen, Berga, Dachau and Allach). They were liberated by the American Army in 1945.
The Offen family was from Kraków, Poland. The brothers tell stories of their life in the Kraków ghetto, Płaszów labor camp and Mauthausen concentration camp. While at Płaszów, Bernard and other children were transported out of camp, most likely to be executed. However, Bernard managed to escape and was then smuggled into another sub-camp to be with an uncle. The family was later reunited at Płaszów until they were sent to Mauthausen. After arriving at Mauthausen, Bernard and his father were separated from Sam and Nathan and sent to Auschwitz. Shortly after arriving at Auschwitz, their father was "selected" by Dr. Mengele and sent to the gas chamber. After the war, Sam and Nathan went to Italy where Bernard later found them.
An interview with Nathan Offen, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Nathan Offen lived in Kraków, Poland. After the German invasion in 1939, Nathan, his brothers Sam and Bernie and their father were recruited by the Germans as forced laborers. Nathan was sent to a nearby rock quarry to work. Meanwhile, Nathan's mother and sister were rounded up and deported. The three brothers and their father were shipped to Płaszów and then to Gusen I, a sub-camp of Mauthausen. Nathan and Sam were separated from their father and Bernie there, it was the last time Nathan saw his father. In 1945, Nathan and Sam were liberated by the American Army. The brothers learned of a Polish unit in the British Army based in Italy and decided to join. While in a DP camp in Italy, they discovered that Bernie was in a different DP camp and the brothers were reunited. After the war, the three brothers settled in Britain until 1951 when they emigrated to the United States.
An interview with Sam Offen, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney
Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Sam
Offen lived in Kraków, Poland. After the German invasion of 1939, Sam
and his brothers, Nathan and Bernie, along with their father, were recruited
by the Germans as forced laborers. Nathan was sent to a nearby rock quarry
to work. In 1942, Sam's mother and sister were rounded-up and deported and
the three brothers and their father were shipped to Płaszów. After
a short time, the Offens were sent to Gusen I, a sub-camp of Mauthausen. There
Sam and Nathan were separated from their father and Bernie. It was the last
time Sam saw his father. In 1945, Sam and Nathan were liberated by the American
Army. The brother's learned of a Polish Unit of the British Army, based in
Italy and decided to join. While in a DP camp in Italy they discovered that
Bernie was in a different DP camp and the brothers were reunited. After joining
the army, Nathan and Sam were given the opportunity to move to Britain. Sam
moved to the United States in 1951.
An interview with Michael Opas, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Paul H. Draznan. Michael Opas was born in Łód ź, Poland in 1910. In his youth, he learned the furrier trade but as an adult he operated his own shoe business. At the start of World War II, Michael, his wife and young son fled to Warsaw where they were imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto. Michael was sent to Majdanek then to Budzyn, a forced labor camp that repaired airplanes. From there he was sent to various camps like Ostrowiec and Auschwitz-Birkenau before finally being sent to Buchenwald, where he was liberated by the American Army. At liberation Michael was grossly underweight and had to recuperate for two months in a makeshift hospital in Buchenwald until he regained some weight and his health. After that he spent time in the Landsberg DP camp and then moved to the Stuttgart DP camp where he re-married and started a family. Michael, his new wife and one-year-old daughter moved to Detroit in 1949.
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.
Born in Betlan, Romania, Abraham Pasternak relates his experiences in Romania during the Nazi occupation and his internment in several concentration camps, including Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Theresienstadt, Schlieben (a satellite of Buchenwald) and Zeitz, a city in Germany.
An interview with Alexander Raab a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Alexander Raab was born in 1933 in Jarosław, Poland. Following the German invasion in 1939, the German’s deported the Jews of the area over the San river, into territory newly annexed by the Soviet Union. Following a brief stay in Grudek, the family was deported to Siberia by the NKVD. After an arduous journey, the family spent time in the cities of Sinyuga and Bodaibo. During this period, Alexander’s father was sent to a labor commando, where he perished. In 1943 or ‘44, the family was sent west to the city of Saratov. After the end of the war, they went to Świdnica, Poland. Alexander attempted to illegally immigrate to Palestine via Italy. Interned by the British, he spent several years on the island of Cyprus and was finally successful in reaching Israel in 1948. He immigrated to America in 1962.
An interview with Mrs. Roemerfeld, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Eva Lipton. Mrs. Roemerfeld was born in P?o?sk, Poland. Following the Nazi invasion in 1939, Mrs. Roemerfeld, along with her parents and older brother, were placed in a make-shift ghetto in the city. During that period, her father was shipped to Auschwitz-Birkenau and in December 1942, she, along with her remaining family, were shipped there as well. After arrival, Mrs. Roemerfeld was placed in the Kanada Kommando sorting clothes. She was then transferred to Budy, a sub-camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. After the liquidation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp system, Mrs. Roemerfeld was sent to Maehrisch-Weisswasser, a sub-camp of Gross-Rosen. Mrs. Roemerfeld was fifty-five years of age at the time of her undated interview.
Nathan Roth was born in Veliky Bereznyy, Czechoslovakia. After the German annexation of the area in 1944, Nathan, along with his mother, father and eight siblings, was deported to the ghetto in Ungvár where the family was split up. From Ungvár, Nathan was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and then to Jaworzno, a sub-camp of Auschwitz. While he was at Jaworzno, Nathan worked for I.G. Farben, a German company operating an excavation project in the area. Nathan was liberated by the Russians while on the death march following the evacuation of the Jaworzno camp. He returned to Veliky Bereznyy after the war and emigrated to the United States in 1949.
An interview with Berek Rothenberg, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Levi Smith. Berek Rothenberg was born on Jan. 3, 1921 in Sandomierz, Poland. As a boy, he belonged to several Zionist organizations including the Betar, Macabbi, and Akiva. Following the German invasion of Poland, he was taken by the Germans for forced labor on the railroads, and when released, was sent out by the Judenrat to work on a road crew. In 1942, Berek was taken away to work at the ammunition factory in Skarzysko. In 1944 he was transferred to Buchenwald and assigned to work at Schlieben, a sub camp, where the Panzerfaust was being manufactured. Berek was then transferred to Theresienstadt, where he was liberated on May 8, 1945. After liberation, he traveled around Italy waiting for a chance to move to Palestine but in 1949, Berek moved to the United States to be with his extended family.
Agi Rubin was born in Monkacz, a town in the part of Czechoslovakia which was annexed to Hungary in 1938. In 1944 her family was deported to Auschwitz where her mother and younger brother were killed. She worked in a sorting shed in the camp until it was evacuated in January 1945. She survived a forced march of several months duration and was liberated in Germany when she was 15 years old. She was later reunited with her father.
Zoltan Rubin was born in Kapúsány, Czechoslovakia. He is the
youngest child in a large family of eight sons and three daughters. His family
was fairly well off since his father owned a large farm and several mills.
Zoltan and his parents were protected from deportation by an economic exemption
until 1942 when the exemption was eliminated and his parents were deported.
Zoltan was able to avoid deportation by using Gentile papers given to him
by friends. In 1944, he was captured with a group of partisans and sent to
a prisoner-of-war camp near Jena where he was part of a forced labor detail
digging tunnels for the Germans. Towards the end of the war, he escaped with
three others and lived off the land for about six weeks until the American
army arrived in the area. He was later reunited with an older brother who
was a doctor with the Czechoslovakian army.
Leon Salomon was born in Maków Mazowiecki, Poland and lived there with his family until Poland was occupied by the Germans in 1939. Leon and two of his sisters moved east to Kobylnik to live with their brother, a school teacher who was later killed when the Germans took over the area. In 1942, the Jewish residents of the town were executed by the Germans in a nearby forest. As Leon was being taken away to be shot, he escaped from the guards and hid in the forest. Leon was the only member of his immediate family to survive and eventually joined a partisan group fighting in the Vilna and White Russia area. He joined the Soviet Army near the end of the war and fought with them until he was wounded in east Prussia.
An interview with Vera Schey, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Vera Schey was born in Budapest, Hungary. An only child whose father died before the war, Vera and her mother survived the German annexation of Hungary in 1944 by obtaining false identifications and papers. During the last months of the war, the two hid in several different locations in and around Budapest, separating and reuniting on several occasions. Vera left Hungary for the United States in 1946.
An interview with Sam Seltzer, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Anita Schwartz. Sam Seltzer was born in Modzurów, Poland. Sam's family consisted of his mother, father and five siblings. Following the outbreak of the war, his mother and siblings attempted to flee east to the Russian border. They were unable to complete their journey, instead staying with Sam's older sister in the small town of Zawiercie. After a brief time, Sam returned to Modzurów, until he was rounded-up by the Germans and placed in a number of forced- labor camps, including Sosnowiec, Klettendorf, Geppersdorf, Brande, Graeditz, Faulbrück and Annaberg. In 1944, Sam was sent to Auschwitz. After several weeks in Birkenau, Sam volunteered to work as a mechanic and was sent to a labor Kommando attached to Buchenwald. Sam was liberated in Buchenwald in April 1945. After liberation, Sam was hospitalized in Feldafing, Germany where he was reunited with his brother and the two emigrated to the United States.
Martin Shlanger was born in Vel'ke Kapusany, Czechoslovakia. He moved to Budapest in 1942 to work in a factory. In March 1944 the Germans occupied the city. Mr. Shlanger acquired false papers but was soon identified as a Jew and arrested. He was sent to Jaworzno, a sub-camp in the Auschwitz system. In 1945, he survived a death march to Blechhammer as the Russian army invaded the area. Because he hid when the Germans left Blechhammer, he was left behind at the camp and eventually encountered the Soviet army. He was reunited for a short time with his brother, who was serving with the Czechoslovak Brigade in the Soviet army. Martin returned to his hometown where he lived until 1949 when he immigrated to Detroit, Michigan.
An interview with Irene Sobel (Miller), a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Irene was born in Warsaw, Poland and lived with her parents and sister in a Jewish neighborhood of the city. The family was not religious but embraced the Jewish culture. After the Germans invaded Poland, her family decided to escape to Russia fearing they would be prosecuted for being Communist. After being denied entrance into Russia, Mr. Miller escaped over the border and came back with falsified documents to get the family across. After residing in Ignatki for a short time, Soviet transport trains picked the family up and shipped them east to a Communist work camp in Siberia. After being released from the camp, the family was transported to Tashkent where Irene's parents were forced to work on a collective farm and the girls were put into an orphanage. Mr. Miller became ill and died during a dysentery epidemic even though Mrs. Miller walked all night to try and get him antibiotics. After the war Irene and her family returned to Poland where Irene was put into a Krakow orphanage because her mother couldn't support her. Eventually Irene and her mother moved to Haifa, Israel where Irene met her husband, Howard Sobel, an American living in Israel. Irene then moved to Cleveland with her husband and had three children, later moving to Detroit. Irene went to school, obtaining graduate degrees, and achieved a successful professional career. Irene and her husband later divorced.
Although he was born in Vilna in 1928, Dr. Emanuel Tanay spent the pre-war years in Miechow, a small community south of Krakow, Poland. During the occupation, his family lived in the Miechow ghetto until Tanay, his mother and sister escaped just before it was liquidated. His father did not escape and was later executed by Amon Goeth. Tanay spent part of the war living in a monastery "hidden" as a novice and "converted Jew." He later used false Aryan papers as he moved around Poland and Hungary.
Miriam Troostwyk was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1931. In 1933, the Troostwyk family emigrated to Amersfoort, Holland while her older sister remained in Germany. In 1939, Miriam's sister and her husband joined the family in Holland. Following the German invasion of the country in 1940, Miriam's father passed away of natural causes. With the help of friends and family, the Troostwyks evaded several German round-ups and later went into hiding first in Velp and then in Arnhem. In Arnhem the family stayed with several other families in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Vandenberg, where they remained until the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. Following the liberation, Miriam remained in Holland for some time. She was married in 1953.
An interview
with Rose Wagner, a Holocaust survivor, conducted
by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the
University of Michigan-Dearborn. At the outbreak
of the war in 1939, Rose and her family lived in
Łódź, Poland. After the German occupation, the family
found themselves in the Łódź ghetto. By 1942, her
parents had perished, leaving her and her sister
to fend for themselves in the ghetto. In 1944, she
and her sister were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Able to stay together in the camp, the sisters were
sent to the Halbstadt concentration camp in Fall,
1944, where they were liberated in May 1945.
An interview with Larry Wayne, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Larry Wayne was born in Łódź, Poland in 1923. He had three blood siblings and two adopted siblings. His family owned a successful bakery and sent him to private school at the Katzenelson Gymnasium where he was trained to be a lieutenant in the Polish army. Shortly after the Nazi invasion, Larry and his extended family were forced to move into a small apartment in the Łódź ghetto in 1940. His father died in the ghetto. Afterwards Larry's family was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where his mother and little brother were gassed in 1944. Larry and his brother Jack signed up to work at the Janina coal mine and then were relocated to various camps. Larry attempted to escape during this relocation period and was shot in the knee. He was brought to Buchenwald where the Allied forces liberated him in 1945. After the war Larry was treated for typhoid fever by the American army and moved to Bad Nauheim where he began smuggling Aliyah Bet. Once he reunited with his brother Jack and sister Ruth, they immigrated to Detroit in 1946.
Ruth Webber was about 5 years old when the war started. Her family was first moved into the Ostrowiec ghetto and then lived in the following camps; Bodzechow, Sandomierz, Starachowice, Austrovietz, Annopol and finally Auschwitz. Her mother survived the war but her father died on the last transport out of Auschwitz. Ruth was in the children's block of Auschwitz when it was liberated by the Russians on Jan. 27, 1945.
Born in Kascony, Czechoslovakia, Michael Weiss chronicles his experiences under the Czechoslovakians, Hungarians, and Germans, both prior to and during, the Second World War. Mr. Weiss and his family were shipped to the Hungarian ghetto of Beregszasz (Berehovo) in 1944. From Beregszasz, the family was deported to Auschwitz, where his mother was gassed by the Germans. From Auschwitz, Weiss and his father were sent to Buchenwald and then on to Zeitz, located approximately fifteen miles south of Leipzig in Central Germany.
Shari Weiss was born in Harina, a small village in Romania. When she was eight or nine, Shari went to live with an aunt and uncle in Cluj where she stayed until 1944 when the Germans occupied Hungary. In May 1944 they were transported to Auschwitz after staying at a transit camp in a brick factory for three weeks. Shari describes her life at Auschwitz where she and her aunt stayed for about five months before they were taken to a labor camp in Altenburg, Germany. She worked in a factory until April 1945 when the inmates were marched out of the camp. Shari and her aunt were liberated by the American army two days later. Shari's uncle did not survive the war.
Cyla Wiener was born in Kraków, Poland during World War I, one of nine children and the only girl. She recalls her experiences in the Kraków ghetto and the concentration camps of Płaszów, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen during World War II. At Płaszów she helped care for the children, including her two year old son, until they were taken to Auschwitz. She worked as a seamstress at Płaszów and later at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, sewing for the Germans. After the war, she returned to Kraków and was reunited with her husband, a few remaining brothers and nieces. Mrs. Wiener and her husband eventually immigrated to the United States.
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