Abraham Lewent (1924–2002) was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1924. The Lewent family was living in Warsaw when the Germans invaded Poland in September 1939. Later, the Lewents were confined to the Warsaw ghetto. In summer 1942, Abraham's mother and three younger sisters were rounded up during the Great Action—the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto to the Treblinka killing center. They were likely killed upon arrival. Abraham was not caught in the Great Action, because during the round up he hid in a small space in the ceiling. Afterwards, Abraham found a forced labor assignment at a nearby airfield. He returned to the ghetto in December 1942, reuniting with his father. During the Warsaw ghetto uprising in April–May 1943, Abraham and his father saw the ghetto being burned to the ground. They were eventually rounded up and sent to the Lublin concentration camp (called Majdanek). Abraham's father died there. Later, Abraham was sent to the Skarżysko-Kamienna labor camp, then to Buchenwald and several other camps. US troops liberated Abraham from a train in April 1945.
And when I came into that camp, so the first thing they asked me, "what do you...What do you know what to do?" So I told them this. Everybody says if you say you are good in mechanics and metal work, you will have a better job. That's what I said. Some people said as a tailor, some...So they asked me, "A young kid like this?" I said "I learned it at school." So they gave me...they put me in a...building, and they used to make parts for...ammunition parts, and, and I was working over there maybe two months every day, sometime nights, sometime days. Food, very little. Very little food. You couldn't even exist on that food they give you. But somehow you...you just survived.
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