The Polish city of Lvov was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1939, under the terms of the German-Soviet Pact. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, German troops occupied Lvov.
These ID cards and oral histories describe experiences that Jews faced after the occupation of Lvov.
Wilek was the son of Jewish parents living in Lvov, a large city in southeastern Poland. His family owned and operated a honeywine winery. Although they lived amongst Poles and Ukrainians, Wilek's family spoke Hebrew, German and Polish at home and were among Lvov's Jewish intelligentsia. When Wilek was 4, his father died of a heart attack.
1933-39: Jews were often discriminated against in Poland. They found it hard to gain access to schools and jobs. In 1939 Wilek managed to pass the entrance exam and entered the Lvov secondary school. Soon after he began school, war broke out; the Soviets and Germans divided Poland. The Soviets annexed Lvov, taking over their home and business. However, Soviet rule spared them from the Nazis' brutality. Wilek continued his schooling.
1940-44: The German army seized Lvov in 1941, moving the Jews into a ghetto. Wilek was among 40 who crossed daily to the Polish side to make roofing paper for the German army; this work saved him from deportation. In 1943, just before the Germans destroyed the ghetto, Wilek got false papers, assumed the name of a Christian coworker, and fled to Hungary. He became a courier for the resistance in Budapest and was arrested as a Polish spy. Unaware of his Jewish identity, they sent him to Auschwitz on October 29, 1944. It was his 19th birthday.
Among thousands of prisoners force-marched to the German interior as the Allies advanced, Wilek was liberated by the Americans on April 23, 1945. In 1949 he immigrated to America.
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Daniel, usually known as Danek, was one of three children born to Raphael and Amalia Schwarzwald, a Jewish couple living in a village near Lvov. When he was a young boy, his family moved to Lvov, where he went on to attend secondary school and a business college. Daniel opened a lumber export business. He traveled extensively and could speak Polish, German, Russian, Yiddish and English.
1933-39: Business prospered and in 1935 Daniel married Laura Litwak and settled in an apartment in a Christian section of Lvov. But war loomed and industrial Lvov was coveted by both the Germans and Soviets. Daniel wanted to immigrate to Britain, where he had business contacts. But his wife, who was pregnant, did not want to abandon her parents. In September 1939 the Soviets occupied Lvov and Daniel's business was expropriated.
1940-42: After the Germans occupied Lvov in 1941, the Schwarzwalds were forced into the Lvov ghetto. With his remaining money Daniel bought false "Polish Catholic" ID cards for his family. Polish friends promised to help them in case anything happened to him. One day, while he was at the Jewish council offices, soldiers surrounded the building and ordered everyone out--someone had killed a drunken German. People were shot as they left, so Daniel tried to save himself by jumping from a window.
As Daniel jumped from the window that Tuesday, September 1, 1942, he was shot by the Germans. He was 41 years old.
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Adela was the youngest of five children born to religious Jewish parents in the industrial city of Lvov. Often known by her nickname, Putzi, she grew up in the same building as her paternal grandparents and learned to speak Polish, German and Yiddish. She attended public and private schools in Lvov before graduating from a Polish secondary school.
1933-39: Adela's dream was to go on to medical school. But the tiny Jewish quota at colleges and universities virtually excluded Jews from enrolling. By September 1939 Adela felt there were worse problems than not being able to attend university. The Germans invaded Poland from the west, and the Soviets came from the east and occupied Lvov in late September. Though instituting communism, Soviet rule spared them from German occupation.
1940-44: After the Germans occupied Lvov in July 1941, Adela avoided German roundups and deportation. Her brother-in-law bought her a false ID card from a Pole. Becoming Ksenia Osoba, a Polish Catholic, Adela left Lvov in September 1942 and found work in Krakow as a secretary and governess. Working conditions were not too bad, but she was in constant fear of being discovered. On the trolley one day she met her former classmate. Adela froze. Rather than talk to her Adela got off immediately. Adela didn't know if she would give her away.
Adela kept her false identity until she emigrated to England after the war. She married another Holocaust survivor. Together they moved to Canada and then to the United States.
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Emanuel, often known by his nickname Manek, was one of five children born to religious Jewish parents in the industrial city of Lvov. After graduating from secondary school, he entered Lvov's polytechnic institute to study civil engineering.
1933-39: At the institute the Jewish students had to stand on the left side of the lecture hall. Once, antisemitic schoolmates broke his jaw because he put up a fight when he was insulted. Manek sued his attackers, but the case was dismissed; the judge said Manek should have been happy he had not been killed. Manek graduated in 1939. After the Soviets occupied Lvov that September, Manek became a planning engineer for the railroad.
1940-42: The Germans took Lvov from the Soviets in 1941. A family friend, Julek, who had been entrusted to help the Litwaks, was asked to ship some clothes to Manek's sister and niece living as "Polish Catholics" in a town 100 miles away. Suspiciously, the clothes never arrived. When Manek decided in September 1942 to flee Lvov to live where no one knew him, Julek came with him to the train station. On the way, Manek wondered whether he could trust Julek.
Manek was betrayed, and was arrested at the Lvov train station for not wearing the required Jewish badge. He was summarily hanged by the Germans. Manek was 29.
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Mina was the daughter of Chaim and Scheindel Schaerf. They lived in the multi-ethnic town of Vinnitsa. Mina came from a religious Jewish family. At 19 she married Josef Litwak, a banker from the nearby town of Dolina, Poland. The couple settled in the industrial city of Lvov, where they raised five children. Four languages were spoken in their household--Polish, Russian, German and Yiddish.
1933-39: The Litwak's two youngest children, Fryda and Adela, had finished secondary school and were planning to attend university, but were unable to because the Polish government was enforcing quotas limiting Jewish admissions to universities. On September 1, 1939, the Germans invaded Poland from the west, and the Soviets invaded from the east 16 days later, splitting the country in two. Lvov was in the Soviet sector.
1940-42: On June 30, 1941, eight days after Germany invaded the Soviet Union, German forces occupied Lvov. Towards the end of the year, most of Lvov's Jews were concentrated in a Jewish ghetto. Food in the ghetto was scarce, and the population was subjected to repeated roundups and deportations. In late August 1942, during the biggest deportation roundup in the ghetto, the Germans came for Mina. Her husband insisted on going with her.
Mina and her husband were put on a transport to the Belzec killing center, where she perished in August 1942. She was 59 years old.
Item ViewFelix was born to an assimilated Jewish family in Lublin, Poland. His father was a locksmith and his mother was a singer. Following the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, Felix fled east to Rovno and then to Soviet-occupied Lvov, where he was accepted at a medical school. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Felix was taken to a labor camp. He escaped and returned to Lublin, and found that his family had been forced into the ghetto established there. After the liquidation of the Lublin ghetto, Felix, his sister, and his future wife Lucine were sent to the Majdan Tatarski ghetto. Felix, Lucine, and her brother escaped and hid, eventually fleeing to the Warsaw ghetto, where Felix and Lucine were married. They escaped to the "Aryan" side of Warsaw and obtained false papers. Felix worked for the underground during the Warsaw Polish uprising in 1944. He and Lucine were liberated by Soviet forces in January 1945. They immigrated to the United States in October 1950.
Item ViewWilek was the son of Jewish parents living in the southeastern Polish town of Lvov. His family owned and operated a winery that had been in family hands since 1870. Wilek's father died of a heart attack in 1929. Wilek entered secondary school in 1939. Soon after he began school, World War II began with the German invasion of Poland. Lvov was in the part of eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union. Although the Soviets took over Wilek's home and the family business, Wilek was able to continue his schooling. On June 22, 1941, German forces invaded the Soviet Union. The Germans occupied Lvov and established a ghetto there. Wilek was among a small group of Jews who left the ghetto daily to work. He helped make roofing paper for the German army. In 1943, shortly before the Germans destroyed the Lvov ghetto, Wilek obtained false papers, assumed the name of a Christian coworker, and fled to Hungary. He became a courier for the resistance in Budapest and was eventually arrested by the Germans as a Polish spy. He was sent to the Auschwitz camp in October 1944. Wilek was among thousands of prisoners sent on a death march to the German interior as Allied forces advanced. He was liberated by US forces in April 1945, and immigrated to the United States in 1949.
Item ViewWilek was the son of Jewish parents living in the southeastern Polish town of Lvov. His family owned and operated a winery that had been in family hands since 1870. Wilek's father died of a heart attack in 1929. Wilek entered secondary school in 1939. Soon after he began school, World War II began with the German invasion of Poland. Lvov was in the part of eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union. Although the Soviets took over Wilek's home and the family business, Wilek was able to continue his schooling. On June 22, 1941, German forces invaded the Soviet Union. The Germans occupied Lvov and established a ghetto there. Wilek was among a small group of Jews who left the ghetto daily to work, making roofing paper for the German army. In 1943, shortly before the Germans destroyed the Lvov ghetto, Wilek obtained false papers, assumed the name of a Christian coworker, and fled to Hungary. He became a courier for the resistance in Budapest and was eventually arrested by the Germans as a Polish spy. He was sent to the Auschwitz camp in October 1944. Wilek was among thousands of prisoners sent on a death march to the German interior as Allied forces advanced. He was liberated by US forces in April 1945, and immigrated to the United States in 1949.
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![People gathered along the street watch as Jews are rounded up and marched through Lvov. [LCID: 62116]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/thumb/cebebc9c-0e2e-4735-8a7d-a9b167f2f2af.jpg)