Detailed Notes on Personal Experiences During German Occupation

Interviewer and Context

• Interview conducted by Leah Zazuillier in Rochester, New York.
• Subject discusses experiences as a Jewish individual during the German occupation in Poland.

Initial Situation

• Subject had to convince authorities of their Jewish identity, despite disbelief from an individual officer.
• Officer was a German army trooper tasked with investigating schools for Jewish students, indicating widespread discrimination.

Forced Identification and Removal

• Following German occupation, Jews were ordered to the market square to report with personal belongings.
• Jews had personal possessions stripped, including valuables like gold eyeglass frames.
• Jews were forbidden to return to their homes, gathering for forced relocation to a place known as Radomysl.

Journey to Radomysl

• Harsh conditions: a long walk in bad weather; had to cross the River Sun using makeshift wooden planks.
• A poignant account of a mother with twins, symbolizing the human suffering experienced.

Geopolitical Context

• Poland divided between Germany and Russia, impacting Jewish population movement.
• Jews considered security risks near the German-Russian border.

Temporary Settlement in Radomysl

• Stayed briefly before moving back to Mielitz to be with relatives; some community members had fled east.
• Father, with military experience, opted against fleeing to Russia, believing Germans less cruel than Russians.

Life in Mielitz

• Father continued tailoring, but nighttime raids by Germans resulted in executions of Jewish individuals.
• Life was defined by fear and uncertainty as the family tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy amidst violence.

Return to Tarnovszek

• In early 1941, family moved back to Tarnovszek for better opportunities due to father's reputation as a skilled tailor.
• Arrival in a partly abandoned town with many homes vacant; reconstruction efforts needed to be made to their new residence.

Increased Atrocities

• By mid-1942, the situation worsened as the Germans rounded up Jews, leading to their march to Baranov.
• Eyewitness accounts of murders occurring regularly during these raids.

Transport to Concentration Camps

• Jews were loaded into boxcars at Baranov for transportation to Dembits, where authorities selected Jews for various camps.
• Subject recounts last sight of mother, sister, and relatives during selection process; evokes feelings of loss and desperation.

Survival at the Rabbi Sanctuary

• Subject and father were taken to a secret camp in Tarnovszek, where conditions were horrendous with rampant disease and malnutrition.
• Camp life involved backbreaking labor; a narrative of survival amidst the horrors of camp life.