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Fruma Lieberman Perlmutter
ID CardFruma was one of four children born to a Jewish family in the Polish village of Luczyce. Her parents owned a large farm near the village. In the early 1920s, Fruma married Simcha Perlmutter, a philosophy professor at the university in Lvov, and the couple settled in Horochow. By 1929 the couple had two daughters, Tchiya and Shulamit. 1933-39: In September 1939, as Simcha was arranging for his family to immigrate, Germany invaded Poland. Three weeks later the Soviet Union occupied eastern Poland where…
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Chaim Werzbe
ID CardChaim was raised in a Yiddish-speaking, religious Jewish family in Sokolow Podlaski, a manufacturing town in central Poland with a large Jewish community of about 5,000. The economic activities of most of the townspeople were closely tied to those of nearby Warsaw and surrounding farming communities. As a young man, Chaim liked to play chess and was active in a local Zionist organization. 1933-39: Chaim made a living in the grain business. After settling down, he married a widow who was older than he and…
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Mina Schaerf Litwak
ID CardMina 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…
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Ben Stern
ID CardBen was born to Jewish parents in Warsaw. When Ben was 7, his family moved to Mogielnica, about 40 miles from Warsaw. Ben's father spent much of his time studying religious texts. His wife managed the family liquor store. Ben attended public school during the day and was tutored in religious studies in the evening. 1933-39: After attending school in Warsaw, Ben returned home to help in the family's liquor store. One day, there was a mass demonstration in town. People chanted, "Don't buy from the Jews!"…
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Chaim Engel
ID CardChaim's family came from a small town where his father owned a textile store. When antisemitic pogroms broke out in Brudzew, the Engels moved to the industrial city of Lodz. Chaim was then 5 years old. In Lodz he attended a Jewish school that also provided a secular education. After finishing middle school, Chaim went to work at his uncle's textile factory. 1933-39: Chaim's neighborhood in Lodz was predominantly Jewish, so most of his friends were Jews. As a young adult he began his compulsory army…
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Gisha Galina Bursztyn
ID CardGisha was raised by Yiddish-speaking, religious Jewish parents in the town of Pultusk in central Poland. She married in the late 1890s and moved with her husband, Shmuel David Bursztyn, to the city of Warsaw, where Shmuel owned and operated a bakery on Zamenhofa Street in the city's Jewish section. In 1920 the Bursztyns and their eight children moved to a two-bedroom apartment at 47 Mila Street. 1933-39: By 1939 six of Gisha's children were grown and had left home: her eldest daughters had married, and…
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David Morgensztern
ID CardThe second of four children, David, or Duvid as he was called by his family, was born to Jewish parents living 35 miles east of Warsaw in the small predominantly Jewish town of Kaluszyn. David's mother and grandmother ran a newspaper kiosk in town, and his father worked as a clerk in the town hall. David attended public elementary school. 1933-39: War has broken out between Poland and Germany. Many people are afraid of what might happen if the Germans occupy Poland and have decided to flee to the Soviet…
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Simcha Perlmutter
ID CardSimcha was one of six children born to a Jewish family in the town of Horochow. His father was a Hebrew teacher. Simcha was an excellent student and after studying at universities in Switzerland, France, and Germany, he became a philosophy professor at the university in Lvov. In the early 1920s he married, and by 1929 he and his wife, Fruma, had two daughters, Tchiya and Shulamit. 1933-39: Simcha was a Zionist and throughout the 1930s he encouraged his Jewish students to emigrate to Palestine [Aliyah…
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Tchiya Perlmutter
ID CardTchiya was the eldest of two daughters born to a Jewish family in the town of Horochow, 50 miles northeast of Lvov. Her father was a philosophy professor who taught at the university in Lvov, and both of her parents were civic leaders in Horochow. 1933-39: In September 1939 Germany invaded western Poland, and three weeks later the Soviet Union occupied eastern Poland [as a result of the German-Soviet Pact], where Horochow was located. Hordes of refugees fleeing the Germans streamed through the town.…
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Jozef Rosenblat
ID CardJozef, also known as Josel, was one of six children born to Yiddish-speaking, religious Jewish parents in the town of Zvolen in central Poland. Jozef became a shoemaker and married a Jewish neighbor. After living in Warsaw for several years, Jozef and his wife, Hannah, settled in the industrial city of Radom near their hometown. There, they raised their three sons. 1933-39: Jozef's three sons finished school and went to work at a young age. Jozef had stopped making shoes himself and was cutting and…
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Rachela Rottenberg
ID CardThe younger of two children born to Jewish parents, Rachela grew up in Radom, an industrial town located some 60 miles south of Warsaw. One-quarter of the city's 100,000 prewar population was Jewish. Rachela's father was a Zionist and was active in municipal affairs. Her mother did volunteer work. l933-39: Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. On September 5, with the Germans rapidly advancing, Rachela's family sought temporary safety with relatives in Warsaw. They got separated along the way.…
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Fred Bachner
ID CardFred was born to a Jewish family in the German capital. Berlin's Jewish community was large--approximately 170,000 by 1933--and the city was the seat of most of Germany's national Jewish organizations. Fred's family owned a successful clothing factory. He attended a Jewish public school in Berlin. 1933-39: In 1938 the Germans began deporting Polish citizens. Both Fred's parents were Polish by birth, but only his father and brother were sent to Poland. Fred and his mother remained in Berlin until their…
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Leon Anderman
ID CardLeon was born to Jewish parents living near Tarnopol, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. During World War I, he was an officer in the Austrian army. Following his enlistment, Leon attended medical school in Vienna. After graduating in 1923, he opened a general medicine practice in Kolbuszowa, a town in south central Poland. He was one of the town's two physicians. 1933-39: Leon had never been active in Jewish affairs, but when the Germans deported Jews from their country in 1938, he felt compelled…
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Elka Rosenstein
ID CardElka was raised in a large, Yiddish-speaking Jewish family in Sokolow Podlaski, a manufacturing town in central Poland with a large Jewish population of some 5,000. Elka was 14 when she graduated from middle school. After completing her schooling, she became a tailor. Working at home, she made clothes for different clothiers in town. 1933-39: Elka was unmarried and living with her parents when war between Germany and Poland broke out on September 1, 1939. German aircraft bombed Sokolow Podlaski's market…
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Laura Litwak
ID CardLaura was the second of five children born to religious Jewish parents in the industrial city of Lvov. She was often called affectionately by her nickname, Lorka. Coming from an educated family living in a multi-ethnic part of Poland, she grew up speaking Polish, Russian, German and Yiddish. As a young woman, she earned a humanities degree from St. Nicholas University in Lvov. 1933-39: In April 1935 Laura became Mrs. Daniel Schwarzwald. Her husband was a successful lumber exporter, and they lived in a…
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Alta Koppff Himmelfarb
ID CardThe daughter of a rabbi, Alta was one of six children raised in a Yiddish-speaking Jewish family in the town of Koprzewnica [in Poland]. Alta was one of the prettiest girls in town, and when she was 19 she married Shaul Himmelfarb, a childhood friend. Shaul opened a grocery store, and Alta ran the store on market days when Shaul was away buying merchandise. The couple had three children. 1933-39: On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Soon after, German troops entered Koprzewnica. While fighting…
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Leon Kusmirek
ID CardLeon was the oldest of two boys born to a Jewish family in Zgierz, a central Polish town in the heart of Poland's textile producing region. The family lived at 15 Konstantynowska Street. Leon's father worked at a textile factory. At age 7, Leon began attending public school in the morning and religious school in the afternoon. 1933-39: On Friday, September 1, 1939, Leon's mother had just returned from the market when the family saw German planes. On Sunday they flew over again, lower, panicking the city.…
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Wolf Himmelfarb
ID CardWolf was the eldest of three children born to Yiddish-speaking, religious Jewish parents in Koprzewnica, a small town in southern Poland. His father ran a grocery store, where his mother would help out on Thursdays. The store was located in the house of Wolf's grandmother, and Wolf, his brother, Izik, and sister, Chana, would play in a large yard in the back. 1933-39: Wolf started attending school a year late, at 8, so that he and his younger brother could share the same books. In the third grade, Jewish…
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Max Liebster
ID CardMax was one of three children born to a Jewish family living in a small town in the Hessian part of Germany. His father was originally from Poland. After eight years of public education, Max completed three years of business school and learned to become a window decorator. In 1929 he found work in Viernheim, a village near Mannheim. 1933-39: Max worked for a clothing store where he was in charge of window dressing. Except for the weekends when there were Nazi marches, life was quiet in Viernheim. Right…
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Moishe Felman
ID CardThe youngest of seven children, Moishe was raised in a Yiddish-speaking, religious Jewish home in Sokolow Podlaski, a manufacturing town in central Poland with a large Jewish population of some 5,000. Moishe's parents ran a grain business. Moishe attended a Jewish school and began public school in Sokolow Podlaski in 1933. 1933-39: Summer vacation had just finished and 13-year-old Moishe was about to begin another year at elementary school when the Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. German…
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Shmuel David Bursztyn
ID CardRaised by Yiddish-speaking, religious Jewish parents in the town of Pultusk in central Poland, Shmuel married in the late 1890s and moved with his wife, Gisha, to the city of Warsaw. Shmuel owned and operated a bakery on Zamenhofa Street. In 1920 the Bursztyns and their eight children moved to larger quarters in a two-bedroom apartment at 47 Mila Street in the Jewish section of the city. 1933-39: By 1939 six of Shmuel's children were grown and on their own. Only his youngest son and daughter still lived…
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Odon Jerzy Wos
ID CardOdon was the third of four children born to Roman Catholic parents in Warsaw, Poland's capital. His father had worked for the Polish merchant marine before starting his own textile business in 1930. When Odon was 8, the family moved to a comfortable apartment located near the Royal Castle and Vistula River. In 1932 Odon began attending grade school. 1933-39: In September 1938 Odon began secondary school. Sensing growing danger from Germany, his father advised him to study German in addition to French. On…
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Mieczyslaw (Marek) Madejski
ID CardMieczyslaw was the eldest of three sons born to well-to-do Roman Catholic parents in Poland's capital of Warsaw. His father was a real estate developer and his mother was a housewife. Mieczyslaw, or Mieteck as he was nicknamed, began attending public elementary school in 1930 when he was 7 years old. 1933-39: Mieczyslaw's father urged him to study either German or Russian because he thought it was likely that there would be a German or Soviet invasion. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. During…
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John Komski describes Krakow after the outbreak of World War II
Oral HistoryJohn, who was born to a non-Jewish Polish family, graduated from an art academy. Following the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, John was in Krakow. Food became scarce in Krakow, with long lines of people waiting for whatever food was available. John decided to join the resistance against the Germans. By early 1940, he and two of his friends felt that they were in danger and decided to try to escape to France. John was caught and arrested during this escape attempt. He survived imprisonment…
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Abraham Roman Ellenbogen
ID CardAbraham was the oldest of five children born to a Jewish family in the central Polish town of Rozwadow, where his father was a produce wholesaler. Abraham attended secondary school in the nearby town of Rzeszow and then went on to complete an undergraduate degree at the University of Cracow. 1933-39: Abraham was accepted to law school, despite quotas restricting the number of Jews allowed to enter, and in 1937 he set up a practice in Rozwadow. Two years later, on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland.…
