Henryka Trzcińska-Strzelecka
I was born on April 11, 1937, in Warsaw. My place of birth, however, was changed in my birth record. My mother was a Jew and Father a Pole. Mother’s maiden name was Zylbersztajn, and Father’s name was Stanisław Konopczyński. Just before the outbreak of war, mainly because of my mother, my parents decided to […]
Juliusz Jerzy (Piotr) Tober
My parents, whom I did not know because they perished in the Warsaw Ghetto when I was six months old, were of the Jewish faith. At the last moment, sensing their approaching death at the hands of the Nazis, they handed me over to the Tober family. Mrs. Tober was from then on my guardian […]
Dziunia Estera Tattelbaum vel Tajtelbaum
As a preface to my recollections, I must emphasize that I am writing them for the first time, that for many years I was unable to speak about any of my wartime experiences, even to those closest to me. I simply could not do it. I first began to talk about my experiences in 1979, […]
Regina Szymańska
For my sister My maiden name was Regina Wirszubska. I was born in 1932 in Wilno. My mama, Eugenia Dworec-Barysewicz, was a native of Wilno, and Papa, Arnold Wirszubski, was from Grodno. Our family, both on Mama’s and Papa’s sides, was very large. During the war they were all murdered in Wilno and its vicinity. […]
Bronisława Szwajca née Eisner
The story that I am about to present here is, to me, unique, just as I know that each of us “children of the Holocaust” regards his or her survival as such, because all of us survived only thanks to some incredible decree of fate. I owe my life to luck, chance, my mother’s courage, […]
Liliana Sterling
I have put off writing my childhood memoirs for a long time. I have often wondered why I remember so little. I remember almost nothing from the time before the war, and I remember only very incidentally the brutal wartime period up until 1943. However, I have remembered much better the events that occurred after […]
Sven Sonnenberg
I was born in 1931 in Grudziądz, Poland. My family home and business were located in Jabłonowo, about twenty-five kilometers east of Grudziądz. This was less than twenty kilometers from the border of East Prussia, where the Germans mounted their invasion of western Poland in September 1939. In 1939 my family consisted of my father, […]
Estera Rosner
In memory of Chana and Chune Rosner I was born on April 11, 1939, in Tarnów, as the daughter of Chune Rosner and Chana, née Grüner, from Gorlice. Father and his parents, Wolf and Saala, were respected citizens of Tarnów, related to the family of Rabbi Unger. Unfortunately, they all perished, shot to death by […]
Dasha Rittenberg
Friday — Preparations for the Sabbath Our sages teach us that the greatest gift that the Jewish people received from God is Shabbat). I was a child from a Hasidic family, the daughter of a great teacher from Góra Kalwaria. At home, where Shabbat was a great event, we treated this gift with great solemnity, […]
Maria Perlberger-Schmuel
We lived in Wieliczka. Everything was ready—school supplies, book bag, and new and freshly-starched smock. But on September 1, all those things were quickly forgotten. War! A strange, ominous word, but in some demonic way—fascinating. Everyone at home was busy taping the windows, but I was most interested in the flashlights with darkening glass filters […]