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.
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