After that we were joined by Liban, who'd come back from the camp in Stutthof [34], that's near Gdansk. There had been a soap factory there, that soap from human fat. What a thing [35]!
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Displaying 13051 - 13080 of 50826 results
Leon Glazer
At that time I still had hope of finding family, and I wrote to the PCK [Polish Red Cross]. It helped to look for families. I got a reply that there wasn't anybody of that name anywhere. And in Bielsko the Jewish Committee was already in existence and all those who came back to Bielsko after the war - it was like a Jewish community organization - registered there. At first it was this book, a normal book. Everybody wrote their name and surname in, date of birth, and then apparently they made these files. And that book - not just that one, because there were a lot of those books all over Poland - was sent to Warsaw and is in the Historical Institute.
I managed to find only one person from the family, my cousin Roza, the daughter of my father's sister from Plaza.
I managed to find only one person from the family, my cousin Roza, the daughter of my father's sister from Plaza.
,
After WW2
See text in interview
Then, in March 1945, I went to our old apartment on Wyzwolenia Square. I went to show my face, that I was there, that I was alive. Some German opened the door and I asked him if he knew my family. He did know them, indeed; when he saw how I was dressed he took pity and gave me a coat, a trench coat. I wore it when they called me up into the army a month later, but it got left behind somewhere later on, on the way. I know that that German was resettled out of Bielsko, or he left himself, I don't remember, but I think they resettled him.
,
After WW2
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Presumably, I'm not sure, they were taken to Belzec [33]. And I meant to go to Belzec, but I'm too old, I can't. Not long ago I talked to my wife about it.
I knew that no-one had survived in the ghetto. The ghetto in Tarnow was liquidated in 1942. I don't remember which month. [The last transport from the ghetto in Tarnow to the extermination camp in Belzec was in November 1942, subsequent transports went to Plaszow, the last in September 1943].
It turned out that I had no-one from my family left in Cracow. I looked for them. I went here and there - the family wasn't there. I knew that the whole lot had been taken to the Cracow ghetto, and that there were no Jews living where I remembered, either on Matejki Square or on Kalwaryjska Street.
In March [1945] I went to Bielsko. The town had already been liberated, but there was still fighting going on in the surrounding hills between the Germans and the Russians. I registered with the Jewish Committee in Bielsko and just thought that I'd get my life sorted out a bit better. [The first people registered with the Jewish Committee in Bielsko on 13th March 1945, and by the end of April 261 people had reported. By the end of December 1945 there were 1,589 people entered in the register]. At the Committee they gave me the address of an apartment where there was a spare room.
I looked for my family but I couldn't find anyone there either. I knew that no-one had survived in the ghetto.
In March [1945] I went to Bielsko. The town had already been liberated, but there was still fighting going on in the surrounding hills between the Germans and the Russians. I registered with the Jewish Committee in Bielsko and just thought that I'd get my life sorted out a bit better. [The first people registered with the Jewish Committee in Bielsko on 13th March 1945, and by the end of April 261 people had reported. By the end of December 1945 there were 1,589 people entered in the register]. At the Committee they gave me the address of an apartment where there was a spare room.
I looked for my family but I couldn't find anyone there either. I knew that no-one had survived in the ghetto.
,
After WW2
See text in interview
It was 20th January 1945, I think, I was liberated. I didn't have a calendar, but that date sticks in my mind. My liberation, because the general one I don't remember, when they liberated various cities. We told them at once where our wounded friends were. We said goodbye and went on, towards Cracow. And on the way there weren't any Germans. Somebody gave us some civilian clothes, so we got rid of the stripes. Later I found out from someone that the Russians took Mandel to a field hospital near Strzelce Opolskie and treated him.
,
During WW2
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There were swimming competitions at that swimming pool in Aleksandrowice that Horowitz and I very often went to, because Bielsko had a very good swimming team - Hakoah Bielsko.
,
Before WW2
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These girls that we had our eye on used to go there. We wanted to flirt with them, but somehow it didn't work, because we were still upstarts, we were 13, maybe 14. Our school wasn't co-educational. Boys separately, girls separately. That's why we only knew each other a bit, by sight.
,
Before WW2
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On Sundays we would go to Aleksandrowice to the swimming pool together. That was this village just outside town, so you went on foot, there was a Jewish cemetery in that village too [the cemetery is still there]. The pool was an outdoor one, and I think that in fact it was some Jews that had built it. A ticket cost perhaps 50 groszy, the same as a ticket to the movies. These girls that we had our eye on used to go there. We wanted to flirt with them, but somehow it didn't work, because we were still upstarts, we were 13, maybe 14. Our school wasn't co-educational. Boys separately, girls separately. That's why we only knew each other a bit, by sight.
There were swimming competitions at that swimming pool in Aleksandrowice that Horowitz and I very often went to, because Bielsko had a very good swimming team - Hakoah Bielsko. [Hakoah Bielsko: Jewish Zionist sports club founded in 1912. Financed by membership subscriptions (1 zloty in 1939), the proceeds from the annual Hakoah Balls, and subsidies from the Jewish Community Organization in Bielsko. The club had several sections: athletics, football, tennis, and a swimming section including water polo. It functioned until September 1939; the club's activities were not resumed after the war. In 1953 it was officially struck off the register of Polish associations and clubs.]
I remember two Jewish girls winning the Polish championships: Dawidowicz over 100 meter breast stroke, and Kandl over 200 meter freestyle. [From 15- 17 July 1939 the Polish swimming championships were held in Bielsko. Hakoah Bielsko was the only Jewish team taking part in those championships. The club became Polish swimming champions on that occasion. Kandl won 2 gold medals, for 100 and 200 m breast stroke. Trude Dawidowicz: 3 silver medals for 100 and 400 m breast stroke, and for 100 m backstroke.] We used to go to water polo matches too - Hakoah Bielsko even played in the top league.
Horowitz even lent me a bike, because I didn't have one of my own. In the winter we used to go skiing. The tram went to Gypsy Wood, just outside Bielsko, you went a little way on foot and there are the mountains, the Beskid. And with Horowitz almost every Sunday in the winter we used to go skiing. I had my own skis, these two simple boards, nothing brand-name. As far as I remember, my parents bought me those in Dattner's sports shop on 3 Maja Street. My friends all had skis, so I begged my parents to buy me some too. But I don't think it was for any special occasion. And so we used to go to Gypsy Wood for the day skiing and come back. Yes, what I had, what my parents bought me, were those skis. What I could have. And so that was how I spent my childhood.
There were swimming competitions at that swimming pool in Aleksandrowice that Horowitz and I very often went to, because Bielsko had a very good swimming team - Hakoah Bielsko. [Hakoah Bielsko: Jewish Zionist sports club founded in 1912. Financed by membership subscriptions (1 zloty in 1939), the proceeds from the annual Hakoah Balls, and subsidies from the Jewish Community Organization in Bielsko. The club had several sections: athletics, football, tennis, and a swimming section including water polo. It functioned until September 1939; the club's activities were not resumed after the war. In 1953 it was officially struck off the register of Polish associations and clubs.]
I remember two Jewish girls winning the Polish championships: Dawidowicz over 100 meter breast stroke, and Kandl over 200 meter freestyle. [From 15- 17 July 1939 the Polish swimming championships were held in Bielsko. Hakoah Bielsko was the only Jewish team taking part in those championships. The club became Polish swimming champions on that occasion. Kandl won 2 gold medals, for 100 and 200 m breast stroke. Trude Dawidowicz: 3 silver medals for 100 and 400 m breast stroke, and for 100 m backstroke.] We used to go to water polo matches too - Hakoah Bielsko even played in the top league.
Horowitz even lent me a bike, because I didn't have one of my own. In the winter we used to go skiing. The tram went to Gypsy Wood, just outside Bielsko, you went a little way on foot and there are the mountains, the Beskid. And with Horowitz almost every Sunday in the winter we used to go skiing. I had my own skis, these two simple boards, nothing brand-name. As far as I remember, my parents bought me those in Dattner's sports shop on 3 Maja Street. My friends all had skis, so I begged my parents to buy me some too. But I don't think it was for any special occasion. And so we used to go to Gypsy Wood for the day skiing and come back. Yes, what I had, what my parents bought me, were those skis. What I could have. And so that was how I spent my childhood.
,
Before WW2
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I only remember from my time at school. I remember that very often I would be at Father's there, when he still had his own workshop and when he had those apprentices of his there. I went to a 7-grade Jewish school with Polish the language of instruction. I don't remember what the school was called, but it was in the center of town, not far from the synagogue.
I remember three teachers. My sister's friend, that Rauchman. She taught Polish. And our class teacher, Gross, taught history. In my view he was a good man. Not very tall, a bit severe. But I didn't have any particular problems at school, either with behavior or with learning. I remember the religious studies teacher too, Zipfer, he was called. Then I didn't have any favorite subjects, it was only later that my world view formed in any way, in every respect. After the war, I made it into higher education.
It was at that Jewish school that I met my three best friends. Unfortunately these were my friends: all factory owners' sons. I was the poorest. The only one who came from a poor family. Literally a poor one. But all in all I felt happy there, in Bielsko, until 1939, until I had to leave the town.
I remember three teachers. My sister's friend, that Rauchman. She taught Polish. And our class teacher, Gross, taught history. In my view he was a good man. Not very tall, a bit severe. But I didn't have any particular problems at school, either with behavior or with learning. I remember the religious studies teacher too, Zipfer, he was called. Then I didn't have any favorite subjects, it was only later that my world view formed in any way, in every respect. After the war, I made it into higher education.
It was at that Jewish school that I met my three best friends. Unfortunately these were my friends: all factory owners' sons. I was the poorest. The only one who came from a poor family. Literally a poor one. But all in all I felt happy there, in Bielsko, until 1939, until I had to leave the town.
,
Before WW2
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Until I went to first grade I didn't do anything; I was at home. There was no preschool or anything like that. I don't remember anything from that time.
,
Before WW2
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In my opinion Jews in Bielsko made up more or less 20 percent. There were fewer Germans, if I'm not wrong, that would have been about 15 percent. Just in Bielsko, because Bielsko was separate and Biala was separate. There was just this bridge linking the two towns, or rather dividing them, and not linking. Cracow province - Biala, and Bielsko - Silesia province. [Editor's note: at present Bielsko-Biala; in 1922 Bielsko became part of the newly created autonomous Silesian province, and Biala was part of the Cracow province. In 1951 the two towns were joined, creating Bielsko- Biala].
Father didn't have any Polish customers, only Jews, and poor Jews at that. I remember that he repaired clothes by turning them inside out. Everything was simply unstitched, the material turned inside out, and sewn back together again. It was mostly that kind of clothes that he sewed. For two years at least. That was the kind of customers he had.
,
Before WW2
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We were evicted from that room, too, towards the end of 1938, to a new block, but into the basement, on Pilsudskiego Street. I don't remember the number, but I could point out the house even today. And we lived in that basement until the outbreak of the war.
,
Before WW2
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All in all, Father did very poorly after that. Fewer customers, competition, and then there was a terrible crisis [the economic crisis in Poland 1929-1935: decline in industrial output, mass unemployment, fall in investment, inflation, a crisis in agriculture].
I was born before the crisis, but I remember the crisis. I remember how much money lay about on the floor in the apartment. Small change, it was. There was an exchange of money under Grabski [Wladyslaw Grabski (1874- 1938): politician, twice prime minister of Poland, economist. Widely known as the author of the 1924 currency reform]. At that time there was a terrible drop in the standard of living. At least for the poor people, and we didn't have any riches. Father kept us with the work of his hands.
And so that was why there was that poverty.
I was born before the crisis, but I remember the crisis. I remember how much money lay about on the floor in the apartment. Small change, it was. There was an exchange of money under Grabski [Wladyslaw Grabski (1874- 1938): politician, twice prime minister of Poland, economist. Widely known as the author of the 1924 currency reform]. At that time there was a terrible drop in the standard of living. At least for the poor people, and we didn't have any riches. Father kept us with the work of his hands.
And so that was why there was that poverty.
,
Before WW2
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I do remember the apartment on Wyzwolenia Square well. We lived in this house, first on the second floor, or the first - well, it's gone clean out of my head. We had two rooms and a kitchen for five people. Father's sewing machine stood in the kitchen. It was a normal apartment, without any luxuries, without a bathroom. At that time there weren't any such luxurious apartments. Well, and anyway, even if there were, for us at least, they weren't very accessible for financial reasons. We occupied that apartment for a few years I think.
In 1935 or 1936 we were evicted into the attic - for non-payment. We had literally one little room and a kitchen. The sewing machine was in the kitchen. We slept some of us in the kitchen and the rest in the little room. All the apartments we lived in were rented.
In 1935 or 1936 we were evicted into the attic - for non-payment. We had literally one little room and a kitchen. The sewing machine was in the kitchen. We slept some of us in the kitchen and the rest in the little room. All the apartments we lived in were rented.
,
Before WW2
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My father was a tailor by trade. He had a tailor's workshop in Bielsko. Literally 100 meters from the square, there was this small street, Podcienie, it was called, if I'm not mistaken. You went into his shop off the street; there were some shops next to it. I think the shop was simply called 'Izaak Glaser.'
At first my father must have been successful, because I remember a tailor's workshop run by Father separately with a few apprentices. I don't remember how many of them there were. But there were sewing machines, not one - several. And then there were these irons that were put in a special oven. I remember the workshop, only I don't remember those good times of Father's. I remember the workshop when it must have been vacated, because unfortunately Father had to give it up, presumably because of the high rents. And so he was left alone with one sewing machine.
At first my father must have been successful, because I remember a tailor's workshop run by Father separately with a few apprentices. I don't remember how many of them there were. But there were sewing machines, not one - several. And then there were these irons that were put in a special oven. I remember the workshop, only I don't remember those good times of Father's. I remember the workshop when it must have been vacated, because unfortunately Father had to give it up, presumably because of the high rents. And so he was left alone with one sewing machine.
,
Before WW2
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My sister had some fiancé, who she was supposed to be marrying, but it went on and on so long, and that was the end. But I don't know what exactly happened between them, I only know that until the war she kept in close touch with him. My brother didn't have a fiancée.
,
Before WW2
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I remember that my sister gave private French lessons. She didn't have another job, but I think she was looking.
,
Before WW2
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My sister and brother went to the German gymnasium in Bielsko, with German the language of instruction. I know that my brother repeated the last grade twice. He didn't pass Greek and Latin. In May 1939 he took his school- leaving exam and again he didn't pass. Because he was supposed to be doing his school-leaving exam, his draft was deferred. We didn't read too much at home, but I remember that my brother and sister did - they were always studying.
,
Before WW2
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There were always arguments at home, but only because there was poverty. Yes, really, we didn't have this, we didn't have that.
,
Before WW2
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He was short, with a moustache; he didn't wear sidelocks.
,
Before WW2
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From what I know German was spoken in Mother's house, like in Father's house too, in fact.
,
Before WW2
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She didn't wear a wig.
,
Before WW2
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It was not far from Kamionka to Plaza and my parents are sure to have met somewhere around there. How, it's hard for me to say. I only know that my parents' marriage was arranged. Before the war that's how it was. Always.
,
Before WW2
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There wasn't a synagogue there, because it was very close to Chrzanow. It took perhaps an hour or so by cart.
,
Before WW2
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As far as I know my grandparents weren't religious - on my mother's side more so than on my father's side, but I can't say anything more precise.
,
Before WW2
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Generally speaking I can say only that I think my grandparents on my mother's side lived in Kamionka near Oswiecim. From my father's side they lived in Plaza near Chrzanow [approx. 50 km from Cracow]. Both families lived in the country and were farmers.
,
Before WW2
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I joined the Jewish Social and Cultural Society at the beginning of the 1990s. I just started going to their meetings and I liked it. At first I went alone, and then with my wife. Not too often, because we don't really feel like going into town at night much.
,
After WW2
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