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Jacob Wasserman
ID CardJacob was the eldest of three sons born to religious Jewish parents in the city of Krakow. His father was a flour merchant. The Wassermans spent summer vacations near Proszowice at a farm owned by their grandfather, who also ran a flour mill. 1933-39: In March 1939, at the age of 13, Jacob celebrated his bar-mitzvah. That summer, his family vacationed as usual at his grandfather's farm. They returned to a nightmare. Krakow had been occupied by the Germans on September 6. Jews were not allowed to walk on…
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Hersh Gordon
ID CardHersh was born to a Jewish family in Kovno, the capital of independent Lithuania. Hersh's father was a mechanic in a textile factory, and his mother had worked as a hat designer until he was born. The Gordons lived on the first floor of Hersh's grandfather's apartment building. Eight-year-old Hersh was in the third grade at public elementary school. 1933-39: In the summers Hersh and his mother would go to his Aunt Ettel and Uncle Abraham in a small town not far away. They'd take a boat down the river to…
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Eva Braun Levine
ID CardEva was the second daughter of five children born to Jewish parents. Her father dealt in real estate, and the family owned the apartment building in which they lived. The building had an elevator, a luxury for that time. Eva finished high school, and she began working for her father and studying history at a small local university. 1933-39: Nightlife for young people was lively in Lodz, and Eva often went dancing with her boyfriend, Herman. In 1939 they married. Then the Germans invaded. One day, the…
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Iosif Rivkin
ID CardIosif was born to a Jewish family in the Belorussian capital of Minsk. He fought with the Tsarist troops in World War I and was taken prisoner by the Germans. When he returned to Minsk after the war, he began working in a state-owned factory building furniture, an occupation in which a number of his relatives also made a living. 1933-39: By the early 1930s, Iosif was married and had three daughters, Hacia, Dora and Berta. The family lived on Novomesnitskaya Street in central Minsk, near the Svisloch…
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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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Kathe Ert Reichstein
ID CardKaethe was the fifth of nine children born to Jewish parents. After graduating from secondary school, Kaethe worked with her father in his bakery. In 1918 she married Samson Reichstein, and the couple settled in Hanover, where Samson was based as a salesman. Their son Herbert was born in 1920. As his wife, Kaethe was officially required to take on her husband's citizenship. 1933-39: In 1938 Kaethe and her husband succeeded in obtaining an exit visa for the United States for their 18-year-old son Herbert…
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Chil Meyer Rajchman
ID CardChil was one of six children born to a Jewish family in the industrial city of Lodz. His mother died before World War II, leaving his father to raise the family. Chil's father could not sustain the family financially, so Chil, as the eldest male child, went to work to help support his brothers and sisters. 1933-39: On September 1, 1939, the Germans invaded Poland. Chil fled Lodz with his younger sister to Pruszkow, a small town 10 miles southwest of Warsaw, where there were fewer restrictions on Jews.…
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Franz Monjau
ID CardAfter secondary school, Franz studied painting at Duesseldorf's Academy of Fine Arts, eventually shifting to art education. He joined an avant-garde group rebelling against traditional painting. Later, he taught art to high school students. For Franz the drift towards fascism was frightening, as was the increasing antisemitism. But being only half Jewish, he did not feel worried about his personal safety. 1933-39: Hitler became chancellor of Germany on Franz's thirtieth birthday. Five months later Franz…
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Agnes Mandl
ID CardWhen Agnes was a teenager, she attended Budapest's prestigious Baar Madas private school, run by the Hungarian Reformed Church. Although she was the only Jewish student there, Agnes' parents believed that the superior education at the school was important for their daughter. Agnes' father, a textile importer, encouraged his daughter to think for herself. 1933-39: In 1936 Agnes studied educational techniques with Signora Maria Montessori in Italy and earned a diploma so she could teach. Hoping to improve…
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Yves Oppert
ID CardYves' mother died when he was 7, and he grew up in the home of his grandfather, who was the chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Paris. Yves became a successful businessman, owning a chain of department stores. He was an avid mountain climber and liked to play tennis and to race cars and motorcycles. As a young man, Yves did his military service in France's alpine corps. 1933-39: In 1934 Yves married Paulette Weill, and the couple had two daughters, Nadine in 1935 and Francelyn in 1939. He was called up by the French…
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Doriane Kurz
ID CardDoriane Kurz’s parents, Klara and Emil Meilech Kurz, settled in Vienna, where her father ran a thriving branch of the family's multinational optical frames business. 1933-39: Doriane was born in Vienna just two years before the Germans annexed Austria in March 1938. Her family fled to the Netherlands soon after the annexation. The Kurz family moved to the town of Maastricht where a branch of the Kurz Brothers' optical frames business was located. Doriane attended nursery school in Maastricht, but the…
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Harry Pauly
ID CardAs a young boy growing up in Berlin, Harry developed a love for the theater. At 15 he began acting in minor roles at a theater at the Nollendorfplatz. He was also apprenticed to a hairdresser but disliked the work. He spent most of his time with other actors, both at the theater and in nightclubs where gay men gathered. 1933-39: When the Nazis came to power, they closed the gay bars. Some gay men, especially those who were Jewish, were killed by Nazi sympathizers; Harry's friend "Susi," a drag queen, was…
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Klara Gottfried Reif
ID CardKlara Gottfried Reif's parents, Herschel and Ethel Gottfried, owned a flour mill and a general store in a small Polish town. Klara could speak five languages. As a young woman, she took an interest in fashion, and enjoyed travelling. On a trip to Vienna, she met Dr. Gerson Reif, a young dentist. After marrying in 1925, the couple settled in Vienna and the first of their two children was born in 1927. 1933-39: After the Germans annexed Austria in 1938, they effectively prevented Jewish dentists from…
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Liane Reif
ID CardLiane's Polish-born Jewish parents were married in Vienna, where they lived in a 14-room apartment in a middle-class neighborhood near the Danube River. Liane's father, a dentist, had his office in their home. 1933-39: After Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Liane's father was found dead, a probable suicide. In May 1939, four months before war broke out, her mother booked passage on the St. Louis, a ship bound for Cuba. But Cuban authorities turned the ship back. Along with some other refugees from the…
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Yennj Baehr
ID CardYennj and her husband Heinrich were two of a few Jewish residents in Ruchheim, a small town in the Rhine River valley. Yennj helped Heinrich run their dry goods store that was on the first floor of their house. In the summer she liked working in the garden out back. Their son, Kurt, had immigrated to America after World War I. Ida, their daughter, helped them in the store until she married. 1933-39: The Nazis have come to power, and many Jews have decided to leave Germany. Yennj and Heinrich's niece,…
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Heinrich Baehr
ID CardA Jewish merchant, Heinrich ran a dry goods business with his wife, Yennj, in Ruchheim, a small town in the Rhine River valley. Their son, Kurt, had immigrated to America after World War I. Their daughter, Ida, had helped them in the business until she married. The Baehrs' store took up the first floor of their comfortable two-story brick house. In the summer, they enjoyed their garden in the back. 1933-39: The Nazis have come to power, and many Jews have decided to leave Germany. Heinrich and Yennj's…
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Ida Baehr Lang
ID CardIda was born to Jewish parents who owned a dry goods store in a small town in the Rhine River valley. As a teenager, Ida loved to bicycle with her cousin, Luise, in the scenic valley. After graduating from school, Ida helped her parents run the store. When she was in her early twenties, she married Fritz Lang, who owned a dry goods store in nearby Lambsheim, where they lived. 1933-39: Ida and Fritz have hired a housekeeper to help take care of their new baby girl, Freya, while Ida works in the store. More…
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Ivo Herzer
ID CardIvo was an only child born to a Jewish family in the city of Zagreb. His father worked in an insurance company. Though blatant antisemitism was considered uncommon in Yugoslavia, Jews were barred from government and university positions unless they converted to Christianity. 1933-39: In Zagreb Ivo studied at a public secondary school. The curriculum was fixed and included three languages as well as religion. His school was highly selective but he enjoyed studying and did well. Though he didn't personally…
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Martin Hans Munzer
ID CardHans was born to Jewish parents in a town in northwestern Germany. The family moved to Berlin when Hans' father obtained a post there as a history teacher in a secondary school. After graduating from university, Hans married and settled with his wife Margaret in an apartment in Berlin. In 1920 their child Wolfgang was born. Hans worked as foreign representative for a sewing notions company. 1933-39: When the Nazis won the election a few weeks ago, Hans was afraid for people like himself who are active…
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Anna Pfeffer
ID CardAnna, affectionately known as Aennchen to her family, was the daughter of non-religious German-Jewish parents. Her father died when she was young and Anna was raised in the town of Bruchsal by her impoverished mother. Anna married a well-to-do, older gentleman in 1905 and moved to the fashionable city of Duesseldorf, where he was a department store manager. By 1933 they had two grown sons. 1933-39: The Pfeffer's comfortable life unraveled after the Nazis came to power. The Nazis arrested Anna's brother…
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Monique Jackson
ID CardMonique's Jewish parents met in Paris. Her father had emigrated there from Russia to study engineering, and her mother had come from Poland as a young child. Monique's father did not have enough money to finish university, so he went to work as an upholsterer. He also shared a small business which sold his hand-tooled leather purses. 1933-39: Monique's mother was 20 when she gave birth to Monique in 1937. Two years later, Parisians were threatened by the possibility of bombing by the Germans, and French…
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Josephine Kohn Dermer
ID CardJosephine, known affectionately as Pepi, and her brother and three sisters were raised in Vienna. Her father traded in furs and her mother was a homemaker. Only a few years after Pepi married, her husband died unexpectedly and she was left to care for their young son, Fred. She and her son moved in with her widowed father. 1933-39: Pepi spent much of her time with her sister Helene. Helene's husband was a Singer sewing machine representative, and in the summer of 1937 Pepi and Fred joined him and Helene…
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Golda (Olga) Bancic
ID CardOlga was born to a large Jewish family living in the Bessarabia province when it was still part of the Russian Empire. In 1918 the province was annexed by Romania. When Olga was 12 years old, she was arrested for the first time for having participated in a strike at the mattress factory where she worked. Despite her youth, she was put in prison and beaten. 1933-39: Olga was an active and vocal member of the local workers' organization. She had been arrested and imprisoned so often that she simply…
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Channah Mazansky-Zaidel
ID CardChannah was one of six children born to a Jewish family. In 1914, a year after her father died, the family fled during World War I to Russia. After the war they returned to Lithuania and settled in the village of Pampenai in a house owned by Channah's grandparents. When Channah's three oldest siblings moved to South Africa in the 1920s, Channah helped support the family by sewing. 1933-39: Channah was working as a seamstress in Pampenai when, in the mid 1930s, she met and married Channoch Zaidel. The…
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Aaron A. Eiferman Letter: Page 1
DocumentFirst page of a letter from a US soldier describing "the living dead" and conditions his unit encountered in a subcamp of Dachau in April 1945.
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Children's art: Handmade comic book "To Alice from Ervin Bogner"
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…
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Children's art: Lingfield House diary
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…
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Children's art: "Lav Fritz," handmade pamphlet of drawings by Fritz Friedmann
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…
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David Mendel Petranker
ID CardDavid was one of eight children born to observant Jewish parents living in the small town of Delyatin. During World War I, David served in the Austrian army. Following the war, he married Frieda Gaenger and moved to Stanislav [Stanislawow]. There, David worked in his father-in-law's lumber business. 1933-39: David had a post as vice-director of the forestry ministry's regional office. His three daughters attended private schools. David was an ardent Zionist, and looked forward to moving his family to…
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Lucien-Louis Bunel
ID CardLucien was the fourth of eight children born to poor Catholic parents in a small town in northwestern France. Lucien began his seminary studies in nearby Rouen at the age of 12. Following two years of military service, he resumed his religious studies in 1922 and was ordained as a priest three years later. He joined the Carmelite religious order in 1931, and became Father Jacques. 1933-39: In 1934 Father Jacques moved to the town of Avon, where he established a boys' school,…
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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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Harry Toporek
ID CardHarry was one of eight children born to a large Jewish family in the Polish town of Lask, 18 miles southwest of Lodz. The Toporeks operated a tannery. Harry attended a public school in the mornings and a religious school in the afternoons. After graduating from secondary school, Harry helped his family in the tannery. 1933-39: On Friday, September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and by Sunday German planes began bombing Lask. Harry and his family couldn't fight the planes so they fled into the fields.…
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Morris Zaidband
ID CardMorris was one of five children born to a Jewish family in the Polish town of Oswiecim, 33 miles west of Cracow [Krakow]. Morris' father sold ladies' undergarments. Morris worked as a jeweler. 1933-39: In September 1939 Germany invaded Poland. Morris's family started to flee eastward but two weeks later the Germans overtook them and they were sent home. When they returned, the Germans were already beating Jews who didn't show them "respect." One day, when German guards came to their house to deport…
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Edith Riemer
ID CardHela Pinsker and Elimelech Riemer were married in 1928. Two years later the Jewish couple's only child, Edith, was born. The Riemers lived in a comfortable apartment in Berlin, in a building that also housed offices of the Communist Party of Germany. 1933-39: Hitler banned the Communists, so their offices in Edith's building were shut down. When these offices were later broken into, the Gestapo blamed it on "the Jews." Though Edith's family wasn't involved, the Gestapo said that if the culprit was not…
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Sandor Braun
ID CardOften known as Sanyi, Sandor was born to religious Jewish parents in a small city in Transylvania, a province that had been ruled by Hungary until 1918. During the 1930s his home city was renamed I.G. Duca in honor of a slain Romanian leader. The fourth of six children, Sandor was also known by his Hebrew name, Yitzhak. The Brauns knew Yiddish, Hungarian, Romanian and Hebrew. 1933-39: Before Sandor's fourth birthday, a babysitter took him on an outing into the forest. When she fell asleep he wandered…
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Isaac Weiner
ID CardIsaac was born to a religious Jewish family in the Ukrainian village of Vachnovka. In 1912 he married Machla Sandler. Isaac had worked as a cattle driver, driving herds from markets as far away as Warsaw, but in 1929, hoping to find new employment, Isaac moved the family to the nearby city of Vinnitsa, which by then was part of the Soviet Union. Isaac and Machla raised six children. 1933-39: In the early 1930s a severe famine swept the Ukraine. Isaac's family survived, but times were hard. Isaac found…
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Klara Mintzberg
ID CardKlara grew up in Rzeszow, a Polish city with a population of approximately 30,000. The Mintzbergs were observant Jews. Klara's mother supported the family by running their fabric store. Her father was an ardent Zionist. He dreamed of immigrating to Palestine and encouraged Klara to join a Zionist youth group. 1933-39: After finishing secondary school, Klara was elected to serve on the board of directors of Poland's Ha-No'ar Ha-Ziyoni youth movement; she was the only woman on the board. She studied…
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Jeno Nemeth
ID CardJeno moved to Szentes from a tiny farming community near the city of Szolnok, where he and his two brothers had been born to Jewish parents. Jeno owned a store that carried groceries and hardware items. He lived in the southeast Hungarian town of Szentes. Jeno and his wife, Juliana, had two married daughters, Barbara and Margit. Their son, Desider, was a dentist in Szentes. 1933-39: Jeno and his wife work hard in their store. The Depression of the 1930s was devastating, but things are starting to get a…
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Juliana Nemeth
ID CardJuliana, who was born to a Jewish merchant family, lived in Szentes, a town in southeasten Hungary which was about 30 miles from the city of Szeged. She and her husband, Jeno, had three children—two married daughters, Barbara and Margit, and a son, Desider, who was a dentist in Szentes. Juliana and her husband owned a hardware and grocery store located on a busy inter-city roadway. 1933-39: Juliana and Jeno work hard in their store. The Depression of the 1930s was devastating, but things are starting to…
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Desider (Dezso) Nemeth
ID CardDesider and his sisters, Margit and Barbara, were born to a middle-class Jewish family. They lived in Szentes, a town in southeastern Hungary, located 30 miles from the city of Szeged. Desider had a dental practice in Szentes. He married Barbara Kertesz, who came from the neighboring town of Hodmezovasarhely. 1933-39: Desider and Barbara now have a baby daughter, Maria. Desider has a busy practice and his patients come from all walks of life. He is glad that he opened his practice in the town where he was…
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Mosze Fuks
ID CardWhen Mosze was a baby his family moved from the small town of Klimontov to the industrial city of Lodz. The Fuks family owned a grocery store and in the early 30s they started manufacturing silk thread. 1933-39: In September 1939 Germany attacked Poland. Over the radio, appeals were broadcast calling Jewish youths to Warsaw to help defend the city. Mosze and his brother, along with hundreds of others, set out for Warsaw. They walked for three days, but when they got to Warsaw, it was too late--the city…
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Jakab Katz
ID CardJakab, a religious Jew, was the father of eight children. In the early 1900s he sailed to America, paying his way by shoveling coal on the ship. In New York he earned enough money to help two of his daughters immigrate. Returning to Buj, he eventually moved his family to Zalkod, a small town in northeastern Hungary. There, helped by his wife, Terez, and his son, Miklos, he ran a store and a farm. 1933-39: Jakab's daughter, Sadie, and her two children, Lillian and Arthur, are visiting from America. The…
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Terez Spitz Katz
ID CardA religious Jewish mother of nine, Terez settled with her husband, Jakab, and children in Zalkod, a small town in northeastern Hungary. Jakab ran a general store. Terez tended their sprawling farmhouse. She baked black bread in their wood-burning stove and canned the peaches and plums she gathered with her children and grandchildren from the family orchards. 1933-39: Terez's oldest daughter, Sadie, is visiting from America. Sadie comes with her parents every Friday when they take the horse-drawn wagon to…
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Olga Gelb
ID CardOlga was born to religious Jewish parents in a small city in Ruthenia. The country's easternmost province, Ruthenia had been ruled by Hungary until 1918. One of eight children, Olga grew up in a prosperous home in which both Yiddish and Hungarian were spoken. Her father worked as a wholesale leather merchant. Olga attended both public school and a Hebrew girls' school. 1933-39: Under Czech rule Olga could be religious and not face discrimination at school. Her parents were pleased when Ruthenia became a…
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Jermie Adler
ID CardThe second of seven children, Jermie was born to poor, religious Jewish parents at a time when Selo-Solotvina was part of Hungary. Orphaned as a young boy, he earned a living by working at odd jobs. In the 1920s he married a woman from his village. Together, they moved to Liege, Belgium, in search of better economic opportunities. There, they raised three daughters. 1933-39: In Liege the Adlers lived in an apartment above a cafe, and Jermie and his wife ran a successful tailoring business. Their children…
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Zelda Piekarska
ID CardZelda was born to a close-knit Jewish family in Sosnowiec, a city in the coal-mining region of Poland. Her father owned a restaurant and also co-owned a chocolate and candy factory. Zelda loved to dance; she was an excellent tap dancer. 1933-39: On September 4, 1939, the Germans entered Sosnowiec. Zelda's family was at her father's store when the German tanks rolled down the street. She saw people lying on the ground but didn't understand why. Her mother told her they were dead. Later, the Germans forced…
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Shaye Rothkopf
ID CardShaye's town in the province of Lodz had a Jewish community that comprised almost one-third of the town's population. Shaye was very young when his father died during World War I. Afterwards, his grandparents helped to support his family. When Shaye was a teenager, his mother died. He and his siblings then lived with their grandparents. 1933-39: Swimming was Shaye's favorite pastime and he'd go with his friends to the banks of the Vistula River on every possible occasion. He worked in Lodz for a company…
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Bruno Klein
ID CardBruno was the youngest of six children born to Jewish parents in the city of Osijek in eastern Croatia when it was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He attended elementary school in Osijek and then completed his secondary schooling in Poega, a Croatian town where his parents had moved in 1923. In 1932 the Klein family moved to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. 1933-39: While living with his parents in Zagreb, Bruno attended medical school until 1938, when he graduated. He specialized in internal…
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Sevek Fishman
ID CardSevek's religious Jewish family owned a haberdashery business in Kaluszyn, a suburb of Warsaw. The oldest of six children (three boys and three girls), Sevek completed high school and was then apprenticed to a tailor. 1933-39: Each Friday, before the Sabbath began, Sevek's mother asked the neighbors if they had enough food for the Sabbath. If they didn't, she brought them a meal. Although Sevek belonged to a non-religious Zionist group, Ha Shomer ha-Tsa'ir, and didn't wear a skullcap like religious Jews,…
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David Klebanov
ID CardBorn in the town of Volkovysk when it was part of Russia, David was the son of middle-class Jewish parents. When the family's life was disrupted by World War I and the Russian Revolution of 1917, they moved to Borisov and Kiev before finally settling in the Polish city of Bialystok. After completing secondary school in 1925, David studied medicine at Stefan Bathory University in Vilna. 1933-39: After medical school David served one year in the Polish army. Then he practiced obstetrics at a beautiful…
