Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Samuel Offen - December 27, 1981

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.

Link to Portraits of Honor Project

1. Introduction
2. Religious Life
3. Relations with Non-Jews
4. Politics
5. Culture and Education
6. Family
7. Anti-Semitism
8. Thoughts on Palestine
9. Outbreak of War
10. German Occupation
11. German Occupation (Continued)
12. Forced Labor
13. Ghetto Adminstration
14. Formation of Ghetto
15. Conditions in Ghetto
16. First Deportations
17. Mother and Sister Deported
18. Violence in Ghetto
19. Deportation to Płaszów
20. Płaszów
21. Forced Labor in Płaszów
22. Amon Goeth
23. Executions in Płaszów
24. Wielicka
25. Transport to Mauthausen
26. Talk of Resistance
27. Arrival at Mauthausen
28. Gusen
29. Labor in Gusen
30. Liberation
31. Sanitary Conditions in Gusen
32. DP Camp in Austria
33. Italy
34. Reunited with Younger Brother
35. Immigration to America
36. Reflections on Survival
37. Family