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Wilek Loew
ID CardWilek 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…
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Irena Elzbieta Wos
ID CardIrena was the second of four children born to religious Roman Catholic parents in Poland's capital of Warsaw. Irena's father owned a successful textile business. When Irena was 10, her family moved to a comfortable apartment near the Royal Castle and the Vistula River. In 1930 Irena entered a private grade school. 1933-39: At 14 Irena began secondary school. She was a good student and wanted to be a doctor. On September 1, 1939, the day she was supposed to begin the new school year, the Germans attacked…
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Miriam Lewent describes conditions in Siberia
Oral HistoryMiriam and her family fled their home when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939. They were interned by Soviet forces and deported to Siberia. Near the city of Tomsk, Miriam cut trees to earn food rations. When the Soviet Union went to war with Germany in June 1941, the Soviets released Miriam and her family. They sold their Red Cross rations for train fare and intended to return to Poland, but most of the family settled in Kazakhstan during the rest of the war. There, her father taught Hebrew to Jewish…
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Thomas Buergenthal describes the difficulties involved in postwar migrations
Oral HistoryThomas's family moved to Zilina in 1938. As the Slovak Hlinka Guard increased its harassment of Jews, the family decided to leave. Thomas and his family ultimately entered Poland, but the German invasion in September 1939 prevented them from leaving for Great Britain. The family ended up in Kielce, where a ghetto was established in April 1941. When the Kielce ghetto was liquidated in August 1942, Thomas and his family avoided the deportations to Treblinka that occurred in the same month. They were sent…
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Sally Pitluk describes forced labor in Budy
Oral HistorySally Pitluk was born to Jewish parents in Płońsk, Poland in 1922. A few days after the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Płońsk was occupied. Sally and her family lived in a ghetto from 1940-1942. In October of 1942, Sally was transported to Auschwitz, where she was tattooed and moved into the subcamp Budy for forced labor. She stayed in the Auschwitz camp complex until the beginning of 1945 when she and other prisoners were death marched to several different camps. She was liberated in 1945 and…
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SS and the Holocaust
ArticleLearn more about the SS and the organization’s involvement in perpetrating the Holocaust.
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Children during the Holocaust
ArticleChildren were especially vulnerable to Nazi persecution. Learn more about the fates of Jewish and non-Jewish children.
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Women during the Holocaust
ArticleUnder the Nazis, Jewish and other “non-Aryan” women were often subjected to brutal persecution. Learn more about the plight of women during the Holocaust.
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Polish Jews in Lithuania: Escape to Japan
ArticleAfter 1940, Polish refugees were pressured to leave Lithuania. Learn more about the diplomats that assisted them and their journey to Japan.
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German Jews during the Holocaust
ArticleBy September 1939, over half of German Jews had emigrated. WWII would accelerate the persecution, deportation, and later, mass murder, of the remainder of Germany's Jews.
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Sachsenhausen
ArticleIn July 1936, the SS opened the Sachsenhausen concentration camp as the principal concentration camp for the Berlin area.
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World War II in Europe
ArticleWorld War II lasted from 1939 to 1945, when the Allies defeated the Axis powers. Learn about key invasions and events during WWII, also known as the Second World War.
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Collections Highlight: Selma Schwarzwald and her Bear, "Refugee"
ArticleWhile living under an assumed identity after escaping from the Lvov ghetto, Selma Schwarzwald received a toy bear that she kept with her for many years. Read about Refugee the bear.
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The Holocaust
Animated MapView an animated map showing key events of the Holocaust, the persecution and murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazi regime and its allies and collaborators.
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Jewish Badge: During the Nazi Era
ArticleNazi officials implemented the Jewish badge as a key element in their plan to persecute and eventually destroy the Jewish population of Europe. Learn more
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Axis Powers and the Holocaust
ArticleEach of Germany’s six European Axis allies participated in the “Final Solution” by murdering Jews or by transferring them to German custody. Learn more.
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Treaty of Versailles
ArticleLearn about the provisions and impact of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, including the "War Guilt Clause" which held Germany responsible for starting World War I.
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The Bielski Partisans
ArticleUnder the protection of the Bielski partisan group, founded by brothers Tuvia, Asael, and Zus, over 1,200 Jews survived after fleeing into forests in western Belarus.
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Wolf Wajsbrot
ID CardWhen Wolf was a young boy, his family moved to France to escape Poland's economic instability and growing antisemitism. Soon after they settled in Paris, his father found work in construction, and Wolf started elementary school. 1933-39: Paris was home to Wolf, but he loved to listen to his parents reminisce about autumns in Krasnik and journeys to Lublin. Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. The Wajsbrots learned of the death camps and mass deportations of Jews. Wolf's parents no longer spoke of the past. Wolf…
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Leah Kohl Rapaport
ID CardLeah and her four brothers were raised in a religious Jewish family in the city of Lvov. After obtaining her high school diploma, Leah attended university for one year. In 1931 she married Joseph Rapaport, and the couple settled in Warsaw. 1933-39: The Rapaports lived in the suburbs, and Joseph worked as a banker. Their daughter Zofia was born in May 1933. Each year at the Jewish holiday of Passover, they returned to Lvov to visit Leah's parents. Two days after Joseph was mobilized for military duty in…
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Alice Krakauerova Seelenfriedova
ID CardAlice was the third of six children born to Jewish parents in the small Moravian town of Hodonin, where her father ran a dry goods and clothing store. The family spoke both Czech and German at home, and Alice attended a German-language secondary school. After graduating, she married her teenage sweetheart, Otto Seelenfried, who was a chemical engineer. 1933-39: Alice and Otto moved to the town of Jihlava. In 1934 Otto died from a ruptured appendix, and Alice returned to live with her parents in Hodonin.…
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2004 portrait of Blanka Rothschild
PhotoBlanka was an only child in a close-knit family in Lodz, Poland. Her father died in 1937. After the German invasion of Poland, Blanka and her mother remained in Lodz with Blanka's grandmother, who was unable to travel. Along with other relatives, they were forced into the Lodz ghetto in 1940. She and her mother were deported to the Ravensbrueck camp in Germany in 1944. From Ravensbrueck, Blanka and her mother were sent to a subcamp of Sachsenhausen. Blanka was forced to work in an airplane factory…
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Blanka Rothschild in 2004
PhotoPhotograph of Blanka Rothschild taken in 2004. Blanka was an only child in a close-knit family in Lodz, Poland. Her father died in 1937. After the German invasion of Poland, Blanka and her mother remained in Lodz with Blanka's grandmother, who was unable to travel. Along with other relatives, they were forced into the Lodz ghetto in 1940. She and her mother were deported to the Ravensbrueck camp in Germany in 1944. From Ravensbrueck, Blanka and her mother were sent to a subcamp of Sachsenhausen. Blanka…
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Chaim Kozienicki
ArticleChildren's diaries bear witness to some of the most heartbreaking experiences of the Holocaust. Learn about the diary and experiences of Chaim Kozienicki.
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Sara Rachela Plagier
ArticleChildren's diaries bear witness to some of the most heartbreaking events of the Holocaust. Learn about the diary and experiences of Sara Rachela Plagier.
