Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Martin Shlanger - March 4, 1983

Contents

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.

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  1. Pre-War Life
  2. Relations with Non-Jews
  3. Politics
  4. Changes After 1938
  5. Increased Persecution
  6. Budapest
  7. Separation of Family
  8. German Annexation
  9. Transport to Auschwitz-Birkenau
  10. Arrival in Birkenau
  11. Conditions in Birkenau
  12. Transfer to Jaworzno
  13. Conditions in Jaworzno
  14. Beaten by Guards
  15. Selections
  16. Evacuation of Jaworzno
  17. SS Guards
  18. Smuggling in Jaworzno
  19. Sanitary Conditions in Jaworzno
  20. Death March from Jaworzno
  21. Blechhammer
  22. Bread
  23. Liberation
  24. Return Home
  25. Reunited with Brother
  26. Hometown
  27. Reminders
  28. Immigration to America
  29. Lawsuit
  30. Attitude Toward Germans

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