All posts in Survival Stories
Cypora Zonszajn (Jablon): The Diary
It was Friday, 22nd August 1942. For the last two weeks we are living under great strain. In Warsaw (600,000 people) there is the evacuation of Jews from Radom, Kielce and else¬where too. Trains are continually running full of people expelled to the death camp of Treblinka. Dosia Monczykowna from Warsaw, is staying with us […]
Noah Lasman: The Aktion
This testimony is the first chapter, “The Aktion”, in a book by Noah Lasman, “Fifty kilometers from Treblinka”. Translated from Hebrew by Mr. Yuval Romano. The book describes the liquidation of the Jewish communities of small towns not far from the Polish capital and near the Treblinka death camp. It includes a description of the tactics of cunning and deceit by the Nazis, manifestations […]
David Giora: Songs in their memory
Poets written by David Giora. Translated from Hebrew by Mr. Yuval Romano. Lend me a corner Lend me a corner, only a corner, I will pour out my heart in Hebrew, I will not conceal anything that happened in the past, Even if stabbed by the sabra bushes. I shall not run away nor erase […]
Shmuel Willenberg: Siedlce in flames
It was a warm autumn morning. I worked on a pile of coats, I had to arrange in packages. I looked around carefully to find out if an SS was approaching, I was afraid of being caught idle. Among the coats, protecting me from the cold, I glanced at the shipments yard. It was completely empty. On the side of […]
Shlomo Rosen: From the debris
This chapter is a summary of the book “From the Debris“, published by Am Oved on TS”D, 1944. The Yiddish origin is in the Labonn archives of the labor movement, in Tel Aviv. Shlomo Rosen came to Eretz-Israel as a refugee through Lithuania, Russia, Japan and China, in 1941. The book was written during the trip to Israel, from Hong Kong to […]
Dov-Ber Blechstein: The last 2,000 Jews of Siedlce
Beaten, sick, and feverish, I was brought to the hospital. The building contained a corridor, a kitchen and a large room. In the room where I lay, three beds stood against the wall. Opposite them – a few sacks of straw on the bare ground. Patients were lying there with dysentery, typhus, pneumonia and other diseases. Together with me in the […]
Ida Yom Tov (Tennenbaum): The destruction of Siedlce
The Germans’ entry. First persecutions On September 1st, 1939, Siedlce was conquered by the Germans. They came from the direction of East Prussia, and as soon as the first days of October they launched into the murder: They caught Jews and non-Jews, and with blows of rifle butts and sticks, without food or a drop of water, […]
Herzl Kavve: I Survived
The outbreak of war That Friday, September 1st, 1939, was different from all the days. All of Siedlce had already felt disaster was approaching, but no one imagined that the Jews were being annihilated. In the late morning hours, planes appeared in the sky. The opinions were divided: Some said they were “ours” (Polish), others said it was […]
Mina Sheinfeld: Memories (1916-1996)
Hebrew Version from the book written by Mina Sheinfeld for her 80th birthday: “Memories (1916-1996)” Translated from Hebrew by Mr. Yuval Romano. The way home The long train crawled slowly, its cars packed with frightened people. Only a small part of young Poles joked at the expense of the Germans and the Jews. From time to time the train […]