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Chaja Kozlowski
ID CardChaja was the eldest of four children born to a middle-class Jewish family in the northeastern Polish town of Iwie. Her father earned his living as a blacksmith. Chaja first went to a private Jewish school that taught both religious and secular subjects; in the fourth grade she transferred to a public school, and also attended Hebrew school in the afternoon. 1933-39: Chaja belonged to one of the Zionist youth organizations in Iwie. They heard lectures, often on Palestine [Yishuv], and had many sporting…
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Pola Nussbaum
ID CardPola was born to a Jewish family in a small town [in Poland] about three miles from the German border. Her family had lived there for generations. Pola's father exported geese and other goods to Germany; her mother owned a fabric store. They lived with Pola's grandmother in a large, single-level, gray stucco house. Raczki had a small Jewish community with a Hebrew school that Pola attended. 1933-39: In 1937 Pola began secondary school in the town of Suwalki. She excelled in math, and hoped to study…
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Feiga Kisielnicki
ID CardFeiga lived with her husband, Welwel, and their three children in the small, predominantly Jewish town of Kaluszyn, which was 35 miles east of Warsaw. The Kisielnickis were religious and spoke Yiddish in their home. Feiga was a housewife and her husband was a merchant who often traveled, by horse and wagon, to Warsaw on business. 1933-39: Germany recently invaded Poland, and several days ago, German forces fought Polish troops in a battle right here in Kaluszyn. Half the town, including Feiga's house, has…
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Henoch Kornfeld
ID CardHenoch's religious Jewish parents married in 1937. His father, Moishe Kornfeld, and his mother, Liba Saleschutz, had settled in Kolbuszowa, where Henoch's mother was raised. There, Liba's father bought the newlyweds a home and started his new son-in-law in the wholesale textile business. 1938-39: Henoch was born in late 1938, and was raised among many aunts, uncles and cousins. Around Henoch's first birthday, Germany invaded Poland and soon reached Kolbuszowa. Polish soldiers on horses tried to fight…
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Rachel Saleschutz
ID CardRachel was the eighth child born to Hasidic Jewish parents living in Kolbuszowa. She spoke English, Hebrew and German in addition to Polish and Yiddish. At school, Rachel's beautiful singing voice earned her leading roles in plays even though Jewish children were rarely given parts. Rachel and her brother Naftali were active in a Zionist scout organization called Ha-No'ar ha-Zioni. 1933-39: In 1933 Rachel started writing weekly postcards to her brother in Palestine. When the cards arrived, immigrants from…
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Isadore Frenkiel
ID CardIsadore and his wife, Sossia, had seven sons. The Frenkiels, a religious Jewish family, lived in a one-room apartment in a town near Warsaw called Gabin. Like most Jewish families in Gabin, they lived in the town's center, near the synagogue. Isadore was a self-employed cap maker, selling his caps at the town's weekly market. He also fashioned caps for the police and military. 1933-39: Isadore felt the pinch of the Depression, but although business was poor, he was able to provide for his family. Shortly…
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Sossia Frenkiel
ID CardSossia and her husband, Isadore, were the parents of seven boys. The Frenkiels, a religious Jewish family, lived in a one-room apartment in a town near Warsaw called Gabin. Like most Jewish families in Gabin, they lived near the synagogue. Sossia cared for the children while Isadore worked as a self-employed cap maker, selling his caps at the town's weekly market. 1933-39: Because of the Depression, Isadore's business had fallen off, but the Frenkiels managed to continue providing for their family.…
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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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Bernard (Green) Greenspan
ID CardBernard was one of five children born to a Jewish family in the southern Polish town of Rozwadow. His father, a World War I veteran incapacitated as a result of the war, supported his family on his military pension. In the early 1930s Bernard completed high school and worked on the family farm. 1933-39: In 1934 Bernard was recruited into the Polish army and stationed in Lvov, where he ran a canteen. After three years there he returned to his family's farm outside Rozwadow to work. On September 24, 1939,…
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Rivka Rzondzinski
ID CardThe mother of six children, Rivka lived 35 miles east of Warsaw in the small predominantly Jewish town of Kaluszyn. The Rzondzinski family was very religious. When Rivka's husband, Fiszel, died in the early 1930s, she and her oldest daughter, Channa, opened a newspaper kiosk near the Kaluszyn railroad station. 1933-39: When Germany invaded Poland several days ago, Rivka's daughter Raizel's husband and her two sons fled eastward to the USSR with other Jewish men. They were afraid that the Germans would…
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Rifka Fass
ID CardRifka was the oldest of three children born to a Jewish family in the Polish town of Ulanow. Ulanow's Jewish community had many of its own organizations and maintained a large library. From the age of 3, Rifka attended a private religious school for girls where she learned Jewish history and Hebrew. At 7 she started public school. Rifka's father worked as a tailor. 1933-39: In 1935 Rifka's father went to America to find a job so his family could later join him. While waiting for immigration papers,…
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Chaie Sura Kisielnicki
ID CardChaie Sura was the youngest of three children born to Jewish parents living 35 miles east of Warsaw in the small, predominantly Jewish town of Kaluszyn. Her father owned a wholesale grocery store, a restaurant and a gas station, which were located together on the busy main road. The Kisielnicki family lived in rooms in the same building as their business. 1933-39: When Germany invaded Poland several days ago, Chaie Sura's father and brothers fled eastward towards the USSR with other Jewish men who were…
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Nina Szuster
ID CardNina was born to a Jewish family in the Polish town of Rokitnoye. Her father built ovens. Nina's family was very diverse: her father was an Orthodox Jew, her brother was a militant Zionist, and her mother leaned towards communism. Nina attended a Jewish school in the town. 1933-39: In September 1939 the Soviet Union invaded the eastern half of Poland. All businesses were quickly nationalized and property was seized. The Soviets distributed most of the town's wealth to the poor in the area. Nina's mother…
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Edek Blonder
ID CardThe Blonder family lived in a two-room apartment in the back of a store. Edek was the third of eight children. His father eked out a meager living by tutoring students in Jewish subjects, and beginning in 1930 he worked distributing food vouchers to the poor. 1933-39: After graduating from secondary school, Edek was invited to play soccer professionally on the local Club Maccabi team, which was part of a Jewish soccer league. Club Maccabi arranged for him to attend trade school to learn cabinet making at…
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Fryda Litwak
ID CardFryda was one of five children born to religious Jewish parents in the industrial city of Lvov. She grew up in the same building as her paternal grandparents. Fryda attended public and private schools in Lvov, and grew up in a non-Jewish neighborhood, speaking Polish, German and Yiddish. 1933-39: When Fryda finished secondary school, she could not go to the university like her older siblings because Polish universities had instituted discriminatory quotas for Jews. In September 1939 the Germans invaded…
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Adela Low
ID CardAdela, known as Udl to her family, was one of four children born to a Jewish family in the Polish town of Ulanow. Her father was a landowner and cattle merchant, transporting calves from the Ulanow area for sale in other towns in the region. From the age of 3, Adela attended a private religious school for girls where she learned Jewish history and Hebrew. At age 7 she began public school. 1933-39: Adela came from a charitable family; when her mother baked challah, a special bread for the Jewish Sabbath,…
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Moishe Rafilovich
ID CardMoishe was one of three sons born to Yiddish-speaking Jewish parents in Radom. This industrial city was known for its armaments factories, in which Jews were not allowed to work even though they totaled more than one-fourth of the city's population. When Moishe was young, he left school to apprentice as a women's tailor and eventually became a licensed tailor. He also played soccer for a local team. 1933-39: In 1937 Moishe, by then a master tailor, married another tailor's daughter. The couple had two…
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Itzik Rosenblat
ID CardItzik, also known as Izak, was one of three sons born to Yiddish-speaking Jewish parents. When Itzik was a young child his family moved to the city of Radom. Itzik left school when he was 11 to apprentice as a women's tailor. After he apprenticed with several tailors in Radom and Warsaw, he went back to school and earned a tailor's license. 1933-39: In 1938 Itzik married Taube Fishman, the daughter of his first employer, after a 13-year courtship much opposed by her family. They lived in Radom, where…
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Helen Dreksler Zimm describes obtaining a false birth certificate
Oral HistoryHelen was the oldest of three sisters. Her father owned a soap factory. After the Germans attacked Poland in 1939, they took over all Jewish businesses. Helen and her family fled from Lodz to a town between Lodz and Warsaw. After two years, in 1942, Helen's father heard that the Jews in the town to which they had fled were to be deported to labor camps. He bought false papers for Helen and her youngest sister. All three sisters survived the war.
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Joseph Stanley Wardzala describes the badge Poles had to wear in forced-labor camps in Germany
Oral HistoryJoseph and his family were Roman Catholics. After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, roundups of Poles for forced labor in Germany began. Joseph escaped arrest twice but the third time, in 1941, he was deported to a forced-labor camp in Hannover, Germany. For over four years he was forced to work on the construction of concrete air raid shelters. Upon liberation by US forces in 1945, the forced-labor camp was transformed into a displaced persons camp. Joseph stayed there until he got a visa to enter the…
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Sobibor Uprising
ArticleUnder the most adverse conditions, Jewish prisoners initiated resistance and uprisings in some Nazi camps, including the Sobibor killing center.
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Manya Moszkowicz
ID CardManya was born in Chmielnik, a small Polish town that had a Jewish community dating back to the 16th century. Her father owned a furniture shop and her mother took care of the home. Manya had two younger brothers, David and Mordechai, and was surrounded by many close relatives. She attended both public and Hebrew schools and had many friends. 1933–39: In 1938 Manya's family moved to Sosnowiec, a larger city located near the German border. There she had her first experience with antisemitism. Signs…
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Chelmno
ArticleThe Chelmno killing center was the first stationary facility where poison gas was used for mass murder of Jews. Killing operations began there in December 1941.
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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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Rojske Kisielnicki Sadowsky
ID CardThe second of three children, Rojske was born to Jewish parents living 35 miles east of Warsaw in the small predominantly Jewish town of Kaluszyn. Rojske's mother was a housewife and her father was a merchant who often traveled, by horse and wagon, to Warsaw on business. When Rojske was in her twenties, she married Welwel Sadowsky, a fruit dealer. 1933-39: After war broke out last week, German forces fought Polish troops in a battle right here in Kaluszyn. Half the town has been flattened by shelling, and…
