Daniel Schwarzwald

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.