You searched for: Liberation
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Abraham Soep
ID CardAbraham, known as "Bram," was born to a religious Jewish family in Amsterdam. After graduating from high school, Bram went into the diamond business with his father. By 1924 he and his wife, Tonie, had three children. Bram served as president of the Amsterdam Jewish community. 1933-39: The Soeps had a large and comfortable home. Bram and his wife often traveled abroad, and each summer the family rented a home near the seashore in Zandvoort. In 1937 Bram's son Benno joined him in the diamond…
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Lisa Dawidowicz
ID CardLisa was born to a Jewish family in the small city of Ostrog in southeastern Poland. Her parents operated a grocery out of their residence; the front half of the house was a store and the rear half was their home. Ostrog was an important center of Jewish religious learning in Poland, and by 1933 Jews made up almost two-thirds of the city's total population. 1933-39: Lisa's family was religious and they regularly attended services. Lisa studied at a Polish school until the Soviets arrived in September…
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Shlomo Reich
ID CardShlomo was one of seven children born in Lodz to the Reich family. The Reichs were a religious Jewish family, and Shlomo's Hasidic father wore earlocks and a traditional fur hat. After public school every day, Shlomo attended the Ostrovtze Yeshiva, a rabbinical academy where he studied Jewish holy texts. Shlomo's father owned a shoelace factory. 1933-39: The Germans invaded Lodz in September 1939 and began to institute anti-Jewish measures. Jews were not allowed to use public transportation, to leave the…
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Children's art: Drawing of people in a garden
ArtifactAlice Goldberger (1897-1986) was born in Berlin, Germany. Trained as a youth-work instructor, she ran a shelter for disadvantaged children and their families. When Hitler came to power, Alice, who was Jewish, had to give up her post. She immigrated to England in 1939. When war broke out, Alice was interned on the Isle of Man as an enemy alien. While there, she organized a children's facility.Hearing of Alice's work in the camp, psychoanalyst Anna Freud (daughter of Sigmund Freud) intervened to secure her…
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Beads used by a Dutch Jewish girl in hiding
ArtifactThese tiny black, white, gold, and clear glass beads were used by Rachel “Chelly” de Groot from November 1942 to April 1944 and recovered by her brother Louis after the war. Chelly used the beads to make handicrafts. On November 16, 1942, Chelly, then 15, Louis, 13, and their parents Meijer and Sophia left Arnhem and went into hiding after the Dutch police warned them of a raid. Meijer and Sophia hid in Amsterdam while Chelly and Louis moved around to different locations. In summer or fall 1943,…
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Istvan Geroe
ID CardIstvan was born to a Jewish family in the small agricultural city of Torokszentmiklos, about 65 miles from Budapest. Istvan worked for the Hungarian railroads during World War I, and afterwards earned a degree in pharmacology. In the 1920s Istvan married Barbara Nemeth and they settled in Torokszentmiklos. In 1929 the couple had a son, Janos. 1933-39: During the early 1930s, after the onset of the Depression, Istvan helped his father in the family's grain exporting business. In 1933 Istvan and Barbara…
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Ilona Haas Geroe
ID CardIlona was one of seven children born to a Jewish family in the city of Szeged, about 100 miles south of Budapest. Her father was an accountant. At the turn of the century many of Ilona's father's relatives emigrated to the United States, but Ilona's father decided to stay. Ilona also became an accountant and got a job in Szeged. 1933-39: Ilona's work as an accountant kept her busy but her free time was spent enjoying music and sports. She also began to study English since so many of her relatives had…
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Julia Polak Bolle
ID CardJulia, her brother and two sisters grew up in Amsterdam in a religious, Zionist Jewish family. The Polak family could trace its roots in the Netherlands back 200 years. Julia attended a Jewish school, and she was proficient in Hebrew. 1933-39: Julia loved to study and teach the Hebrew language. As a leader of Zionist youth, Julia spoke to many groups about creating a Jewish home in Palestine [Yishuv]. Her boyfriend was also involved in Zionist work, and in 1938 they were married. The couple became part of…
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Pavol Kovac
ID CardAs a boy, Pavol lived with his parents in the city of Martin in Slovakia. His father taught at the local agricultural college. The Kovacs, who were non-practicing Jews, were among the few Jewish residents in the town. 1933-39: When Pavol was born, almost nine months before the outbreak of World War II, his parents decided to have "Roman Catholic" listed under the entry for religion in his birth certificate. They took this step to protect him, despite the fact that for generations Jews in their region had…
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Dezider Gruenberger
ID CardDezider was the oldest of three children born to Hungarian-speaking Jewish parents in the city of Kosice in the southeastern part of Czechoslovakia known as Slovakia. As a young boy, he attended a Jewish elementary school. His father was a tailor whose workshop was in the Gruenberger's small apartment. 1933-39: After Dezider finished elementary school, he entered secondary school with a view to going on to the university. The language of instruction was Slovak, and Jews faced no discrimination until…
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Frances Perkins
ArticleFrances Perkins was FDR's secretary of labor. Learn about her role in the rescue of European Jews whose lives were threatened by the Nazi regime.
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Yugoslav partisans prepare to fight
FilmAt his hidden headquarters in the mountains of Yugoslavia, Marshal Tito (Josip Broz), head of the Yugoslav Communist partisan movement, prepares his forces for battle. Women gather silk parachutes, used to drop supplies by Allied forces, for use as bandages. Partisans train, preparing to fight the Germans. At the height of the partisan war in Yugoslavia in 1943, Tito's partisans engaged some 35 Axis divisions, which otherwise might have been in service on the Italian or eastern fronts.
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Croatian fascist leader Ante Pavelic
FilmAnte Pavelic was a Croatian fascist leader who headed a pro-German government in Croatia from 1941 until 1945. This captured German newsreel shows Pavelic walking through an adoring crowd and reviewing his units. Under Pavelic's rule, the Croatian government killed hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, and Roma (Gypsies). Pavelic fled to Argentina after the war. He died in 1959 from wounds he received in an assassination attempt two years earlier.
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Swastika flag rises over Versailles and Paris
FilmThe German western campaign into the Low Countries and France shattered Allied lines. Within six weeks, Britain evacuated its forces from the Continent and France requested an armistice with Germany. Paris, the French capital, fell to the Germans on June 14, 1940. In this footage, triumphant German forces raise the swastika flag over Versailles and over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Versailles, the traditional residence of French kings, was deeply symbolic for the Germans: it was the site of both the…
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Doriane Kurz describes appell (roll call) in Bergen-Belsen
Oral HistoryDoriane's Jewish family fled to Amsterdam in 1940, the same year Germany occupied the Netherlands. Her father died after deportation to Auschwitz. After their mother was seized, Doriane and her brother hid with gentiles. The three were reunited at Bergen-Belsen, where they were deported via Westerbork. They were liberated during the camp's 1945 evacuation, when Doriane was 9. Her mother died of cancer soon after Doriane helped her recover from typhus. Doriane and her brother immigrated to the United States.
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Doriane Kurz recalls Bergen-Belsen prisoners hauling wagons of corpses
Oral HistoryDoriane's Jewish family fled to Amsterdam in 1940, a year that also saw the German occupation of the Netherlands. Her father perished after deportation to Auschwitz. After their mother was seized, Doriane and her brother hid with gentiles. The three were reunited at Bergen-Belsen, where they were deported via Westerbork. They were liberated during the camp's 1945 evacuation. Doriane's mother died of cancer soon after Doriane helped her recover from typhus.
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Alan Zimm describes a hanging in the Dora-Mittelbau camp
Oral HistoryThe Germans occupied Kolo in 1939. In 1942 Alan was deported to the Lodz ghetto where he worked in food distribution. He took food each day to Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Jewish council. In 1944 Alan was forced to unload trainloads of coal and munitions in Czestochowa. In 1945 he was sent to the Dora-Mittelbau camp. As the Soviet army advanced, the inmates were transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where British forces liberated them in April.
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Fela Warschau describes the Feldafing displaced persons camp
Oral HistoryFela was liberated at Bergen-Belsen by the British army in 1945. She went to a displaced persons (DP) camp administered by the Americans in Feldafing, near Munich. She married in the DP camp in 1946, and eventually immigrated to the United States.
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Nina Kaleska describes the formation of the ghettos in Grodno
Oral HistoryNina and her family were confined in a ghetto after the Germans entered Grodno in 1941. Her parents and then her sister perished after deportation to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Nina survived in the camp for two years. As the Soviet army advanced in 1945, Nina and other inmates from the camp were transferred first to the Ravensbrueck camp in Germany and then to the Retzof-am-Richlin camp. Nina was liberated in May 1945, during a forced march from the camp.
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Irene Weber describes how obtaining a work card could offer protection from deportation
Oral HistorySeparated from her family, Irene was deported from the Sosnowiec ghetto to the Gleiwitz camp in March 1943. After a death march and an attempted escape from a transport out of Gleiwitz, Irene was imprisoned in Prague, then Theresienstadt, where as a political prisoner she was sentenced to death by starvation. For the five months before liberation, she shared a cell with 59 ailing women. Irene was the sole member of her Jewish family to survive the war.
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David (Dudi) Bergman describes bar mitzvah during deportation by cattle train from Auschwitz to Plaszow
Oral HistoryThe Germans occupied David's town, previously annexed by Hungary, in 1944. David was deported to Auschwitz and, with his father, transported to Plaszow. David was sent to the Gross-Rosen camp and to Reichenbach. He was then among three of 150 in a cattle car who survived transportation to Dachau. He was liberated after a death march from Innsbruck toward the front line of combat between US and German troops.
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Abraham Lewent describes performing forced labor in Warsaw and increased Polish antisemitism
Oral HistoryLike other Jews, the Lewents were confined to the Warsaw ghetto. In 1942, as Abraham hid in a crawl space, the Germans seized his mother and sisters in a raid. They perished. He was deployed for forced labor nearby, but escaped to return to his father in the ghetto. In 1943, the two were deported to Majdanek, where Abraham's father died. Abraham later was sent to Skarzysko, Buchenwald, Schlieben, Bisingen, and Dachau. US troops liberated Abraham as the Germans evacuated prisoners.
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Hana Mueller Bruml describes the vibrant cultural life in the Theresienstadt ghetto
Oral HistoryIn 1942, Hana was confined with other Jews to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where she worked as a nurse. There, amid epidemics and poverty, residents held operas, debates, and poetry readings. In 1944, she was deported to Auschwitz. After a month there, she was sent to Sackisch, a Gross-Rosen subcamp, where she made airplane parts at forced labor. She was liberated in May 1945.
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Sophie Turner-Zaretsky describes how the teddy bear brings her back to the past
Oral HistorySophie was born Selma Schwarzwald to parents Daniel and Laura in the industrial city of Lvov, two years before Germany invaded Poland. Daniel was a successful businessman who exported timber and Laura had studied economics. The Germans occupied Lvov in 1941. After her father's disappearance on her fifth birthday in 1941, Sophie and her mother procured false names and papers and moved to a small town called Busko-Zdroj. They became practicing Catholics to hide their identities. Sophie gradually forgot that…
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Sophie Turner-Zaretsky describes how both she and her bear are survivors
Oral HistorySophie was born Selma Schwarzwald to parents Daniel and Laura in the industrial city of Lvov, two years before Germany invaded Poland. Daniel was a successful businessman who exported timber and Laura had studied economics. The Germans occupied Lvov in 1941. After her father's disappearance on her fifth birthday in 1941, Sophie and her mother procured false names and papers and moved to a small town called Busko-Zdroj. They became practicing Catholics to hide their identities. Sophie gradually forgot that…
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Sam Itzkowitz describes forced labor in the Makow ghetto
Oral HistoryThe Germans invaded Poland in September 1939. When Makow was occupied, Sam fled to Soviet territory. He returned to Makow for provisions, but was forced to remain in the ghetto. In 1942, he was deported to Auschwitz. As the Soviet army advanced in 1944, Sam and other prisoners were sent to camps in Germany. The inmates were put on a death march early in 1945. American forces liberated Sam after he escaped during a bombing raid.
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Abraham Lewent describes hunger and death in the Warsaw ghetto
Oral HistoryLike other Jews, the Lewents were confined to the Warsaw ghetto. In 1942, as Abraham hid in a crawl space, the Germans seized his mother and sisters in a raid. They perished. He was deployed for forced labor nearby, but escaped to return to his father in the ghetto. In 1943, the two were deported to Majdanek, where Abraham's father died. Abraham later was sent to Skarzysko, Buchenwald, Schlieben, Bisingen, and Dachau. US troops liberated Abraham as the Germans evacuated prisoners.
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Leo Schneiderman describes arrival at Auschwitz, selection, and separation from his family
Oral HistoryThe Germans invaded Poland in September 1939. Leo and his family were confined to a ghetto in Lodz. Leo was forced to work as a tailor in a uniform factory. The Lodz ghetto was liquidated in 1944, and Leo was deported to Auschwitz. He was then sent to the Gross-Rosen camp system for forced labor. As the Soviet army advanced, the prisoners were transferred to the Ebensee camp in Austria. The Ebensee camp was liberated in 1945.
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Lilly Appelbaum Malnik describes the process of registration in Auschwitz
Oral HistoryGermany invaded Belgium in May 1940. After the Germans seized her mother, sister, and brother, Lilly went into hiding. With the help of friends and family, Lilly hid her Jewish identity for two years. But, in 1944, Lilly was denounced by some Belgians and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau via the Mechelen camp. After a death march from Auschwitz, Lilly was liberated at Bergen-Belsen by British forces.
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Ruth Meyerowitz describes her memories of the Auschwitz crematoria
Oral HistoryIn Frankfurt, Ruth's family faced intensifying anti-Jewish measures; her father's business was taken over and Ruth's Jewish school was closed. In April 1943, Ruth and her family were deported to Auschwitz. Ruth was selected for forced labor and assigned to work on road repairs. She also worked in the "Kanada" unit, sorting possessions brought into the camp. In November 1944, Ruth was transferred to the Ravensbrueck camp system, in Germany. She was liberated in May 1945, during a death march from the…
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Miso (Michael) Vogel describes the crematoria at Auschwitz-Birkenau
Oral HistoryIn 1939, Slovak fascists took over Topol'cany, where Miso lived. In 1942, Miso was deported to the Slovak-run Novaky camp and then to Auschwitz. At Auschwitz, he was tattooed with the number 65,316, indicating that 65,315 prisoners preceded him in that series of numbering. He was forced to labor in the Buna works and then in the Birkenau "Kanada" detachment, unloading incoming trains. In late 1944, prisoners were transferred to camps in Germany. Miso escaped during a death march from Landsberg and was…
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1931 studio portrait of Abraham Moshe Muhlbaum
PhotoAbraham and his family fled from Berlin to Amsterdam in October 1938. They found refuge in the Netherlands until January 28, 1943, when all the members of the Muhlbaum family, except Abraham, were deported to Westerbork. Abraham escaped over the rooftops during the round-up. He gradually established a new life as a member of a Dutch resistance group that included Joop Westerweel. In 1944, Abraham was arrested as a member of the resistance (his Jewish identity remained hidden). He was held…
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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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Hana Mueller Bruml describes an encounter with a non-Jewish friend in Prague
Oral HistoryIn 1942, Hana was confined with other Jews to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where she worked as a nurse. There, amid epidemics and poverty, residents held operas, debates, and poetry readings. In 1944, she was deported to Auschwitz. After a month there, she was sent to Sackisch, a Gross-Rosen subcamp, where she made airplane parts at forced labor. She was liberated in May 1945.
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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.
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Jutta Szmirgeld
ArticleChildren's diaries bear witness to some of the most heartbreaking events of the Holocaust. Learn about the diary and experiences of Jutta Szmirgeld.
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Lublin/Majdanek: Key Dates
ArticleExplore a timeline of key events in the history of the Lublin/Majdanek camp in German-occupied Poland.
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The Press in the Third Reich
ArticleAfter rising to power, the Nazis eliminated freedom of the press in Germany. Learn more about how they established control over the press and manipulated it.
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Lublin/Majdanek Concentration Camp: Administration
ArticleIn 1940, the Nazis established Lublin (Majdanek) concentration camp in Lublin, Poland. Learn more about camp administration.
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Vilna
ArticleDuring the Holocaust, the creation of ghettos was a key step in the Nazi process of ultimately destroying Europe's Jews. Learn about the Vilna ghetto.
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Berlin
ArticleBerlin was home to Germany’s largest Jewish community. It was also the capital of the Third Reich and the center for the planning of the "Final Solution."
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Tarnow
ArticleLearn about the prewar Jewish community of Tarnow, German occupation, deportations and killings of the Jewish population, ghettoization, and resistance.
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Riga
ArticleGerman forces occupied Riga, Latvia in July 1941. Learn more about the establishment of the Riga ghetto, mass shootings of Jews, and Jewish resistance.
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Aliyah Bet
ArticleLearn more about Aliyah Bet, the clandestine immigration of Jews to Palestine between 1920 and 1948, when Great Britain controlled the area.
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History of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
ArticleThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opened in April 1993. Explore the history of the nation's memorial to the millions murdered during the Holocaust.
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Hidden Children: Quest for Family
ArticleAfter the Holocaust, many Jewish parents spent months or years searching for the children they had sent into hiding. Learn about the search for surviving relatives.
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Rescue and Resistance
ArticleWhile some European Jews survived the Holocaust by hiding or escaping, others were rescued by non-Jews. Learn more about these acts of resistance.
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Jewish Partisans
ArticleSome Jews who managed to escape from ghettos and camps formed their own fighting, or partisan, units during World War II. Learn about life as a partisan.
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Killing Center Revolts
ArticleUnder the most adverse conditions, prisoners initiated revolts in killing centers. Learn more about prisoner uprisings in Treblinka, Sobibor, and Auschwitz.
