Portrait of the Shiber family in Lwów, Poland, 1935

This 1935 portrait shows Samuel and Adela Shiber with three of their children—Salomon (left), Matylda (center), and Emanuel (right). The Shibers were a Jewish family from Lwów. Samuel owned a textile workshop in the city. Samuel and Adela spoke Yiddish at home, while the children spoke Polish among themselves. In this photo, there are no obvious markers of Jewish identity. The family wears clothing typical for middle or upper class families at the time. The children are dressed like most schoolchildren in Poland. Other markers of acculturation include the family’s hairstyles. For example, Adela’s uncovered hair is a departure from the practice of more traditional, religious Jewish women who covered their heads as a sign of modesty. Unlike more traditional, religiously observant Jewish men, Samuel’s head is uncovered and he has no beard.

In September 1939, the Soviets occupied Lwów according to the terms of the German-Soviet Pact. Emanuel was sent to a Soviet military school in Kirovograd (now Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine). After graduation, Emanuel served as a gunner in a Soviet artillery unit. In 1943 he was transferred to the Polish 1st “Tadeusz Kościuszko” Infantry Division under Soviet command. He survived the war. Upon returning to Lwów with his unit in July 1944, he learned that Soviet authorities had arrested his brother Salomon in May 1941 on charges of belonging to an illegal Zionist organization. Salomon was later killed. Emanuel’s parents and sister Matylda were deported by the Germans to the Belzec killing center where they were murdered.