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Pincus' Story
| In 1945 Pincus was taken
from the Bachnia ghetto, where he had lived for two years, and was
sent to Auschwitz. Pincus had to ride in a cattle train with about 100
other people. There was no food and it took two days to get to
Auschwitz. Many people did not survive the ride there because of the
heat.
Pincus remembered at Auschwitz
" They lined us up in groups of fives. An officer was
pointing to the left then right. I was glad I was sent to the right.
The ones that went to the left went to the crematorium and the people
to the right went to the labor camps.
At Auschwitz, the officers shaved
their heads so they wouldn't get as much lice and tattooed a number on
their arm. Pincus' number was 161253.
Pincus had been there for four
weeks. Every once in a while they picked several hundred people and
took them to Bunno, another part of Auschwitz. Pincus was one of them.
They put Pincus in a barrack with around 300 to 400 other
people.
In the morning you got very little
food. Also in the afternoon you only got a bowl of soup, which was
mostly just hot water. They had to work 9 or 10 hours each day. Many
people died because of starvation and weakness.
If you could survive at Auschwitz,
you had to have a break. Pincus' break came when he met a friend from
his hometown. Pincus' friend supervised other inmates. Pincus went to
see him and asked if he could give him a different job. Luckily,
Pincus was able to get a different job, and it was inside. Pincus
thought his friend saved his life.
Fred
Wertheim's Story |
| Fred Wertheim was born in Germany, in
1925. He lived in a small town with only 2,000 people living in it.
There were very few Jewish families in the town, only ten to be exact.
At the time that Fred was 8, Hitler came into power. So,
Fred and his family decided to o to America, but, because of immigration
quotas it was very hard to leave. Fred's family had no papers prepared
by a United States citizen, so that made it even harder. They was then
given a number, 48,878, which represented how many people got to leave
Germany before them.
On July 2, 1938 Fred became thirteen. Four weeks later
came Kristallnacht. His synagogue was destroyed. Six days later, it was
ordered that Jewish children be expelled from school. Also at the same
time Jewish males were being conscripted for labor camps. Fred was small
for his size so he was overlooked. Before long, all Jewish families were
being deported to death camps. . Luckily, Fred's family was
spared. Their immigration number came up and they left for America.
After being in America for only two years, Fred joined
the U.S. army. He was eighteen then. Fred had front-line units. It was
dangerous and had high casualties. Fred took part in the invasion of
Europe. He went to France and then went to Germany. He was captured
there. Fred remembered "They had us lined up and I heard them talking
among themselves. They said they were going to kill us. Yet for some
reason they changed their mind. They spared my life twice."
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Joseph Sher's Story
Joseph Sher was born on July 27, 1917. He was born in
Krzepice, Poland. Their was six kids in his family. When Joseph was thirteen
he found out there was no future for Jews. In church they were teaching that
Jews killed Jesus. At school the teachers would not call on a Jew, even if
you raised your hand all day.
Joseph's family moved to Czestochowa. When
the German Army came into the town they put up cards that said "Every male
Jew between the ages of 15 to 80 come to the market." My brother and father
went. They were told to lay face down in the street. The Germans shot every
10th of 12th person to scare the others. They called it Bloody Monday
because the Germans killed many people.
Joseph had to wear a yellow arm band and wrist band. Soon,
Hitler began building a highway and needed helpers. So, each town had to
supply a number of men. Joseph had to go and help. They started building the
highway at Cieszanaw. Out of the1,000 men that helped only three survived,
and Joseph was one of them. After about a week, Joseph found some German
Jews that he knew and they him escape and get home.
Jeannine Burk's Story
| Jeannine Burk was
born in Brussels, Belgium, on September 15,1939. Hitler soon took over
Belgium. Things were going to get very bad for the Jews, so Jeannine's
father found a place for her to hide. He dropped her off at a woman's
house and that was the last time Jeannine ever saw her dad.
Jeannine lived at the woman's house for two years,
From ages 3 to 5. Jeannine was never mistreated, but she was never
loved. She lost a big part of her childhood, simply because she was a
Jew
The Nazis used to have parades and everybody had to
look out their door. So Jeannine had to hide in the outhouse so they
couldn't see her. Jeannine had no toys and had never been kissed or
hugged. That was her life for two years. Some neighbor snitched on
them, but they did not find Jeannine. Although, they did find the rest
of her family, except Jeannine's mother. Her mother ran away. In 1944
Jeannine remembered her mother coming back to get her, so they could
be together.
Jeannine thought her parents paid the woman that she
was staying with. If it wasn't for her Jeannine would not had lived. |
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