Bram Asscher

Bram Asscher

Abraham “Bram” Asscher was born on August 28, 1924 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

He was the Son of Eliazer Asscher (1878-1935) and Stephanie Fischer (1895-unknown).

He had an older Brother, Isaäc Jacques Asscher (1916), and a younger one, Jacob (Jeannot, Jean) Asscher (1925).

His Father was a Diamond Merchant and a Brother of Abraham Asscher (1880-1950), one of the two Presidents of the German-Appointed Jewish Council (Dutch: Joodse Raad and German: Judenrat) during the German Occupation of the Netherlands.

Bram’s Father died in 1945 in Paris, France.

The Germans invaded and occupied the Netherlands on May 10,1940.

The Germans forced all Jewish Children to leave Dutch Schools and were only allowed to attend a Jewish School.

Bram went to the Jewish Lyceum in Amsterdam for the 1941-1942 School Year.

It was in Class 4B2 that Bram met Margot Frank (the older Sister of Anne Frank.)

Margot had been a Student at the Jeker School in Amsterdam, but the Anti-Jewish Laws created by the Germans in the Netherlands forced her to the Jewish Lyceum.

In March 1941 Bram’s Mother married Dirk Leendert Tollenaar, a Gentile (ie. Non-Jewish.)

According to the German Anti-Jewish Laws she was now in a Mixed Marriage and had an Exemption from Deportation.

Her Children, however, were considered to be Full Jews since both their Parents were Jewish,

Bram’s Oldest Brother Jacques fled German-Occupied the Netherlands in April 1941.

He traveled by Train to Brussels, Belgium, Paris, France, then to Spain (which was Neutral during World War 2) and to Portugal (which was Neutral during World War 2) where he went to the United States (which was Neutral during World War 2 from September 1, 1939-December 8, 1941) to Canada and then arrived in Scotland, the United Kingdom in 1942 in order to fight with the Free Dutch Military against the Germans.

Together with his Brother Jacob, Bram was transported to the Westerbork Transit Camp in northern German-Occupied the Netherlands on September 29, 1943.

Bram was in the “Free’ Section of Westerbork, but met up with Margot (who was in the Punishment Section of Westerbork because she had been found in Hiding.)

Bram was allowed to write 1 Letter to his Mother every 14 days.

On August 25, 1944 Bram wrote his Mother that Margot, Anne and their Parents (who Bram’s Mother also knew) were in the Punishment Section of Westerbork.

In the Letter he wrote:

'Mama, do you know that Margot is here? That friend of Trees. You remember her, don't you? She's in the S with her Parents and Sister. Very sad!'”

Bram’s Letter is one of the few Personal Sources that refer to the Frank Family at Westerbork.

Also in his letters from Westerbork, Bram often wrote about his Fiancée Trees Lek, who was held at the Camp Vught together with her two Sisters, and her Parents, who were with him in Westerbork.

On September 3, 1944 Margot and her Family were deported on the last Cattle Car Train from Westerbork to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland.

On September 13, 1944 Bram and his Brother Jacob were deported from Westerbork to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in Germany.

On April 9, 1945 (9 days before Bergen-Belsen was liberated by the British) Bram and his Brother (along with 2,500 other Prisoners) were forced out of the Camp and made to walk 6 miles to the Train Station in Celle, Germany where they were put on a Train headed to the Theresienstadt Ghetto in German-Occupied Czechoslovakia.

On April 13, 1945 the Train stopped near Magdeburg, Germany and was liberated by the Allies.

After the War, he returned to the Netherlands.

Margot and Anne Frank and their Parents arrived at the Auschwitz Death Camp 3 days after their left Westerbork.

Of the 1,019 Passengers, 549—including all Children younger than 15—were sent directly to the Gas Chambers and murdered.

 The Men were separated from the Women. It was the last time Margot and Anne saw their Father.

Margot was forced to haul rocks and dig rolls of sod by day; by night, they were crammed into overcrowded barracks. Being outside all day she regularly saw People walking to their deaths in the Gas Chambers.

In October 1944 their Group was selected to leave Auschwitz and go to the Leibau Labor Camp, but Anne had contacted Scabies and so went to the Camp’s Hospital instead.

 Margot and their Mother volunteered to stay in Auschwitz to care for Anne.

On October 28, 1944, after recovering from Scabies, Anne, Margot and Mrs. Van Pels left Auschwitz and went to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in Germany.

Around March 1945, Anne died from Typhus at 15 years old a few days after her Sister, Margot who was 18 years old.

They were both buried in an unknown Mass Grave.

87: WW 2

 

85: Star of David

85 years ago today (September 1, 1941) the Germans required Jews in Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia  to wear a Yellow Star of David with the German Word “Jude” for “Jew.”

(A Jewish Girl in German-Occupied Croatia forced to wear a Star of David with the Ž for “Židov”, English: “Jew” on it.)

Every Man, Woman and Child over the age of 6 had to buy these Badges (using their own Clothing Ration Coupons) and have them clearly visible on their outer clothing (including a coat) so that they could easily be identified and discriminated against for being Jewish.

When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 they required Jews there to wear a White Armband with a Blue Star of David for the same purpose.

(Jewish People in German-Occupied Belgium forced to wear the Star of David with the J (for "Jude" in German, "Juif" in French and "Jood" in Dutch.)

Parts of Poland had different Badges. In German-Occupied Warsaw Jews had to wear the Armband and in German-Occupied Lodz Jews had to wear the Yellow Star (because that part of Poland was illegally annexed into Germany.)

(A Jewish Man in German-Occupied Poland forced to wear the Star of David Armband.)

In every European and North African Country/Territory that Germany occupied during World War 2 the Jews there had to wear similar Identifying Badges with the local name for “Jew” on it (French: “Juif”, Dutch: “Jood”, Croatian: Ž for “Židov”, English: “Jew” for the British Channel Islands which Germany occupied, etc.)

Failure to not wear the Armband or the Star or to “hide it” and not have it clearly visible resulted in instant death.

This requirement was on top of every Jewish Man, Woman and Child having to carry an Identity Card with a large “J” on it – since 1938 in Germany and every German Jewish Man, Woman and Child having to add either “Israel” for Men or “Sara” for Women to their Names to be “more easily recognizable as Jews” – since 1936.

The Germans wanted to first identity the Jews and then to murder them.

84: Wiesbaden And Frankfurt

 

84 years ago today (August 27, 1942) the Germans Rounded-Up 600 Jewish Men, Women and Children  - most of them Elderly and Sick from Wiesbaden, Germany.

(The Germans deporting the Elderly Jewish Men and Women from Wiesbaden. Germany in August 1942.)

On August 29, 1942 they were sent to Frankfurt where another 600 Jewish Men, Women and Children were added to the Round-Up.

On September 1, 1942 they left by Train for the Theresienstadt Ghetto in German-Occupied Czechoslovakia.

Later most were deported from Theresienstadt to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland.

Only 32 of the 1,200 from Wiesbaden and Frankfurt survived the War.

82: Auschwitz Photo

 

82 years ago today (August 25, 1944) an American Air Reconnaissance Plane flew over the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland.

It took pictures of the Camp from 30,000 feet.

29 Photographs were taken in total.

This one shows Auschwitz 2 (Auschwitz Birkenau) the Death Camp.

This Picture shows the Women’s Camp; the Guard Towers; the Main Camp Gate; a Cattle Car with 33 Wagons; Four of the Gas Chambers with the Crematoria as well as a burning pit behind Gas Chamber 5 where bodies were burned; a Group of newly arrived Prisoners are also seen going to the Admission Building to be shaved, showered and tattooed with a Camp Number.

At the bottom of the picture you can also see Men, Women and Children who just arrived and are walking to their death at the Gas Chamber.

The US didn’t bomb the Auschwitz Death Camp or even the Train Tracks (or any Death Camps.)

The US, British and Soviet Governments knew about the Death Camps – especially by August 1944 when this Photograph was taken – but chose not to do anything to help the Victims.

1.1 Million Men, Women and Children were murdered at Auschwitz alone.

82: Parade

(American Victory Parade in Paris, France – August 29, 1944.)

82 years ago today (August 25, 1944) Paris was liberated from the Germans.

2,000 Parisian Civilians were killed during the Liberation of Paris.

1,600 French Resistance Members were killed.

130 Free French Soldiers were killed.

The 2nd Armored Division suffered 71 killed and 225 wounded.

12,800 Germans became Prisoners of War.

10,000 Parisians who had Collaborated (French Women had their heads shaved) with the Germans were arrested and tried, 8,000 were convicted, and 116 were executed by the Allies after the War.

General Dietrich von Choltitz was sent to London, England where he stayed for the remainder of the War and then he was transferred to Camp Clinton in Mississippi, USA until his release in 1947. He died in 1966.

General Charles de Gaulle became Chairman of the Provisional Government of the French Republic from June 1944 until January 1946 then the French Prime Minister from 1958-1959 and then the French President from 1959-1969. He died in 1970.

“Is Paris Burning” is a 1966 Film that shows the Liberation of Paris (blending acting with archival footage.

82: Paris

82 years ago today (August 25, 1944) Paris, France was liberated from German Occupation by the Americans, the British and the Free French during World War 2.

(As Allied Troops enter Paris on August 25, 1944, celebrating crowds on place De La Concorde scatter for cover from small bands of remaining German Snipers.)

Paris had been occupied by the Germans since June 14, 1940. A Curfew was in effect from 9 pm in until 5 am and at night, the City of Light went dark.

Rationing of food, tobacco, coal and clothing was initiated in September 1940. Every year the supplies grew scarcer and the prices higher. The French Press and Radio Broadcast only German Propaganda.

Jews in Paris were forced to wear the Yellow Star of David Badge and were barred from Professions and Public Places.

On July 16-17, 1942, 13,152 Parisian Jews, including 4,115 Children, were rounded up by the French Police, on orders of the Germans, and were sent to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland (of the 76,000 French Jews deported from France.)

Following the Allied Invasion of Normandy on June, 6, 1944, the French Resistance in Paris launched an Uprising on August 19th, seizing the Police Headquarters and other Government Buildings.

On August 7, 1944 , Dietrich von Choltitz was appointed the Military Governor of the Garrison of "Greater Paris" (Groβ Paris) with 20,000 German Soldiers in Paris.

The French Resistance in Paris had 19,000 Members , but only 60 hand guns, a few machine guns, and no heavy weapons.

On August 20th Barricades were erected across Paris by the French Resistance and Ordinary Parisians. Fighting broke out between the French Resistance and the Germans from August 20th to 25th when the Resistance was joined by the Free French and the Americans.

General von Choltitz had been ordered by Hitler to leave the city a "heap of burning ruins", but he also realized the battle was lost, and he did not want to be captured by the Resistance.

Through the offices of the Swedish Consul-General, Raoul Nordling, he ignored Hitler's orders and arranged a truce. In the afternoon of the 25th he traveled from his Headquarters in the Hôtel Meurice to the Montparnasse Train Station, the Headquarters of General Leclerc, where he signed the Surrender.

The Occupation of Paris was officially over.

General Charles de Gaulle held his Free French Victory Parade in Paris on August 26, 1944.

America held its Victory Parade in Paris on August 29, 1944.

Black Ribbon

Black Ribbon Day

Today (August 23rd) is Black Ribbon Day. It is the day the European Union, Georgia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States remembers the Men, Women and Children murdered by both the Nazis and the Communists. The date was chosen because it was when the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between the German Nazis and the Soviet Communists was signed in 1939.

The Nazis murdered 24,826,424 Men, Women and Children (Non-Military Civilians) from 1933-1945.

That number also includes those in Targeted Groups that the Nazis specifically went after:

 Jews:   6 Million Men, Women and Children;

Non-Jewish Polish Civilians: 3 Million Men, Women and Children

People with Disabilities: 270,000 Men, Women and Children (doesn’t include the 375,000 Disabled who were Forcibly Sterilized)

Roma and Sinti (Gypsies): 500,000- 1.5 Million Men, Women and Children

Jehovah's Witnesses:  5,000 Men, Women and Children

Homosexuals:  9,000 Men and Women in Concentration Camps (Doesn’t include the 50,000 Men and Women held in Regular Prisons)

 

 The Communists murdered 149,469,610 Men, Women and Children (Non-Military Civilians)  Worldwide since 1917 and the Communists in China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea continue murdering Innocent People.

We should also remember the Ukrainian Men, Women and Children being murdered by the Russian Nazi Zs since 2022.

Jan Maletka

Jan Maletka

(Jan Maletka in 1941.)

Jan Maletka was born in 1921 in Poland.

He was from Mińsk Mazowiecki and was Roman Catholic.

He was a Railroad Worker during the German-Occupation of Poland during World War 2.

He worked at the Gravel Pit in the Village of Treblinka with his older Brother, Stanisław, and a Co-Worker, Remigiusz Pawłowicz.

The Village of Treblinka was 50 miles from Warsaw 2 miles from the Treblinka Death Camp.

At 10 am on August 20, 1942 Jan Maletka and Remigiusz Pawłowicz were working near the Train Tracks near a Cattle Car carrying Jewish Men, Women and Children from Warsaw to the Treblinka Death Camp was halted at the Station.

Jan and Remigiusz could hear the cries of the Men, Women and Children inside begging for water (it was a hot Summer day and the Germans had given them no food or water for the journey.)

Jan and Remigiusz decided to bring water to the locked Cattle Cars.

A German Guard shot and killed Jan Maletka throwing his body into one of the Cattle Cars and brought to the Death Camp.

His Supervisor asked the Germans not to burn his body, but to release it and allow it to be buried at the Parish Cemetery in Prostyń.

The Germans agreed to the request.

Jan Maletka was 21 years old and had a Fiancée.

Remigiusz Pawłowicz survived being shot by falling into a ditch.

Jan Maletka was commemorated by the Pilecki Institute under the "Called by Name" Program on November 25, 2021, in the Village of Treblinka, at the site of the Railway Station that no longer exists.

Treblinka

Treblinka

The Treblinka Camp was split into Treblinka 1 and Treblinka 2.

Treblinka 1 was built in September 1941 and was a Forced-Labor Camp where 20,000 Men and Women (mostly Political Prisoners and Victims of the German :apanka Round-Ups in Warsaw) worked in the Gravel Pit or Irrigation Area and in the forest, where they cut wood to fuel the Cremation Pits (used to burn the thousands of Men, Women and Children murdered in the Gas Chambers.)

Prisoners were woken up at 5 am and had an hour to dress, use the Latrines and line up for Roll-Call outside, then had Breakfast and went to their Forced Labor.

They worked from 7 am until 4 pm (in the Winter) and 6 pm (in the Summer) with an hour for Lunch from 12 pm-1 pm.

They had Roll-Call and then their Dinner at 7 pm before being confined to the Barracks for the night.

Prisoners received the following Rations: half a Liter of watery soup or porridge for Breakfast, a Liter of soup for Lunch, and a cup of unsweetened coffee and a  little rye bread for Dinner.

10,000 of the 20,000 Inmates of Treblinka 1 died (from Diseases like Typhus, being Beaten by the Guards, Exhaustion or sent to the nearby Gas Chamber.)

Treblinka 2 was the Death Camp and was divided into three parts.

Camp 1 was the German Administrative Compound where the Guards lived.

Camp 2 was the Receiving Area where incoming Transports of Prisoners were offloaded.

 Camp 3 was the location of the 6 Gas Chambers.

Men, Women and Children arriving at Treblinka all came to Treblinka 2 first.

The German Guards selected a few Men and Women with Special Skills (like Jewelers, Furriers, etc.) or who looked strong and healthy and sent them to either work at Treblinka 1 or kept them in Treblinka 2 and used them to either sort the Personal Items (Clothes, Jewels, Currency, etc.) of the Victims to be sent to Germany or used them in the Sonderkommando.

The Sonderkommando were forced to help new Arrivals off the Trains before removing the Personal Items to Barracks where the Non-Sonderkommando sorted everything.

The Sonderkommando then had to helped the Men, Women and Children selected to die to undress in one of two Barracks before the Prisoners were forced to walk naked through a Fenced Path that the Germans called “die Himmelstraße” ("The Road to Heaven") to the Gas Chambers.

The Germans told the Prisoners that they were going to take a shower to be deloused before entering the Work Camp.

The Men were always gassed to death first while the Women and Children were forced to wait outside naked (able to hear the final screams of their Husbands, their Fathers, their Brothers, etc.)

20 minutes later the Sonderkommando were forced to enter the Gas Chambers and remove the dead bodies, clean the Gas Chambers for the Women and Children waiting outside and then burn the dead bodies.

(Burning Treblinka 2 (the Death Camp)  during the Prisoner Uprising on August 2,1943.

This Clandestine Photograph was taken by Franciszek Ząbecki (who was the Station Master at the Treblinka Village Railroad Station and a Member of the Polish Home Army Resistance Group.)

On August 2, 1943 the Prisoners in Treblinka 2 carried out an Uprising.

It was a Monday when their were no Transports of People to be gassed to death so several German and Ukrainian Guards left the Camp to swim in the nearby Bug River.

840 Jewish Prisoners took part in the Uprising with 400 of them making out of the Death Camp.

300 of the 400 who made it outside the Camp were killed by the German and Ukrainian Guards.

Of the 100 who made it out of the Death Camp and survived the Uprising 70 are known to have survived the War (including 2 Women.)

Only 1 German Guard was wounded and 5 Ukrainian Guards were killed during the Uprising.

Since no German Guard was killed no Official Report of the Uprising was made to Berlin.

On August 19, 1943 the last gassing of Jews took place at Treblinka 2.

100 Jewish Prisoners were kept at Treblinka 2 to destroy the 6 Gas Chambers and all evidence of the German War Crimes.

A Farm was built until of the Death Camp’s ruins and a Ukrainian Camp Guard, Oswald Strebel, a Ukrainian Volksdeutscher (Ethnic German from Ukraine), was given permission to bring his Family from German-Occupied Ukraine where the Family lived on the Farm and were told to tell anyone who asked that they had been farming there for Decades.

From July 23, 1942 until October 19, 1943 9250,000 Jewish Men, Women and Children (including 250,000 from the Warsaw Ghetto) and 2,000 Roma Men, Women and Children were murdered by the Germans in one of the six Gas Chambers there.

(Memorial at Treblinka)

The Soviet Red Army liberated the area on August 19, 1944.

After the Liberation Local Poles (who knew about the Death Camp) looted Treblinka looking for gold and other valuables from the Victims.

Looting continued at Treblinka until 1958.

The Polish Communists built a Large Stone Memorial at Treblinka in 1959.

The Treblinka Trials concerning the Treblinka Death Camp Guards began in 1964 and was held in Düsseldorf, West Germany,

As with the vast majority of Trials of Former Nazis held in West Germany from 1948-1990 the Guards received light Sentences for their Crimes.

In 1964 Treblinka was declared a National Monument of Jewish Martyrdom due to International Demand during the Treblinka Trial in West Germany.

An Exhibition Center was built at Treblinka in 2006.

In 2010, the first Archaeological Excavations at Treblinka took place (finding the remains of one of the six Gas Chambers and 3 Mass Graves.

Philip Bialowitz

Philip Bialowitz

(Philip as a 13 year old Prisoner at the Sobibor Death Camp in 1943.)

Philip Bialowitz was born on November 25, 1929 in Izbica, Poland.

Izbica was a Jewish Shtetl where 90% of the Population was Jewish.

His Parents ran a Tannery there.

Philip was deported to the Sobibor Death Camp in Germany-Occupied Poland in April 1943 (when he was 13 years old.)

Immediately, after getting off the Cattle Cars the Germans asked the Jews if any had special trades or professions.

Philip’s Brother, Simcha (who was 30 years old) told the Germans that he was a Pharmacist and that Philip was his Assistant – saving Philip from being murdered in the Gas Chamber.

The Germans made them “Working Jews” while Philip and Simcha’s Sisters and Neice were murdered in the Gas Chamber within an hour of arriving.

Philip worked as a Barber shaving the heads of the Prisoners as well as sorting the Belongings of those who were murdered.

 Philip and Simcha took part in the Sobibor Uprising on October 14, 1943.

Philip, who was 13 years old, was the Messenger.

He went up to different SS Men and told them that the Prisoners had found good quality Boots or a Jacket that they should look at.

When the Germans went to the huts, one by one, to look the Prisoners killed them with knives.

11 SS Men were killed in this way.

The Uprising then began with 600 of the Jewish Prisoners running through the Barbed-Wire Fence (the Electricity had been turned off) and through the minefield to the nearby forest all while the Germans and the Ukrainian Collaborator Guards shot at them.

365 Prisoners made it out of the Death Camp, but only 200 made it to the nearby forest.

100 of those who made it to the forest were later recaptured and killed by the4 Germans and the Ukrainians.

47 Prisoners of Sobibor (including 8 Women) survived the War.

On October 19, 1943 Himmler ordered Sobibor to be closed and sent Prisoners from the Treblinka Death Camp to dismantle the Gas Chambers and most of the buildings before they were killed in November 1943.

Philip and Simcha survived both the Uprising and the War by hiding at the home of Polish Catholics Farmers, Michał and Maria Mazurek, who would have been killed if the Germans had discovered them helping Jews.

From May 1942-October 1943 the Germans murdered 250,000 Men, Women and Children at Sobibor from German-Occupied Poland and German-Occupied the Netherlands.

After the War, Philip married and had Children before moving to New York where he worked as Jeweler.

(Philip in 2013.)

In 1965-1966, he testified as a Witness at the Sobibor Trials in Hagen, Germany.

It was the first time most of the World had ever heard about the Sobibor Death Camp.

Philip wrote “A Promise at Sobibor”, which detailed his early life growing up in Poland, his experience during World War II, and his Postwar life.

On October 14, 2013, the 70th Anniversary of the Uprising, Sobibor Survivors, including Thomas Blatt and Philip Bialowitz, Family Members, Politicians, Teenagers, and Religious Figures commemorated the Victims of Sobibor.

Philip Bialowitz died in Florida on August 6, 2016, at the age of 90.

The first Memorial at Sobibor was created in 1965 (after the Sobibor Trials) and comprised of Memorial Wall, an Obelisk symbolizing the Gas Chambers, a Sculpture of a Mother and her Child, and a Mausoleum called the "Memory Mound.”

Since the Communist Polish Government was Anti-Jewish no mention was made of the Jews murdered at Sobibor until 1993.

The Sobibor Death Camp did not become a Museum until 1993 when it was The Sobibór Museum or the Museum of the Former Sobibór Nazi Death Camp (Polish: Muzeum Byłego Hitlerowskiego Obozu Zagłady w Sobiborze.)

88: Names

 

88 years ago today (August 17, 1938) Nazi Germany forced all Jewish Men, Women and Children in Germany, Austria and Occupied Czechoslovakia to add either “Israel” (for Men) or “Sara” (for Women) as their legal Middle Name so that it would be easier to identify who was and was  not Jewish.

They had to use this new “Official” Middle Name on all Legal Documents as well as on the Mandatory German Identification Card (the Kennkarte.)

Refusing or forgetting to use this enforced new Name was punishable by imprisonment.

There are cases where German Jews who received an American Visa (or any Visa) to leave Nazi Germany were either refused a German Exit Visa (required to leave Nazi Germany) or refused entry into the United States (or any country) because their American Visa didn’t have the required legal name of “Israel” or “Sara” on it.

Sometimes that was because when the Visa Application was first made it was before August 1938 when the law was announced and the only way to make the name change was to reapply for a Visa and get a new Quota Number that was years-out in being called (someone who applied for an

American Visa in November 1938 could expect to get a high Quota Number meaning they could expect to get their American Visa in 1943 – of course no one in 1938 knew that in 1943 World War 2 would be raging and the Jews would be murdered in German Gas Chambers.)

Sometimes it was because the Visa Application and all the other Documents had the mandatory name of “Israel” or “Sara” on it, but the signature didn’t.

Picture: 10 year old Robert “Israel” Spied Kennkarte from May 1939 with the required “Israel” on it. It doesn’t have the required “J” on it (but his International Passport did.) Robert was from Vienna and escaped the Nazis due to Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus, a Jewish American Couple, who helped 50 Jewish Refugee Children (including Robert) immigrate to the United States.

Note: On October 5, 1938 the Swiss made the Germans identify who was Jewish on their International Passports (otherwise Switzerland would forbid all Germans entry into Switzerland) and so Nazi Germany added a “J” (for “Jude” or “Jew”) to Jewish Kennkarte and International Passports. Robert’s Parents were also able to escape the Nazis and reunited with Robert in April 1940.

In September 1939 the Germans then made the Jews in German-Occupied Poland wear a Blue Star of David on a White Armband on their outer shirt or coat.

The Jews had to use their Clothing Ration Coupons and their own money to buy these Armbands. It had to be a certain size, be clean and visible at all times.

Refusing or Forgetting to use this enforced Armband was punishable by imprisonment or death on sight.

On September 1, 1941 the Germans required all Jews living in Germany or in German-occupied territory wear a Yellow Star of David (with a “J” for “Jude” or “Jew” – sometimes instead of “Jude” written on the Star it used the local name “Juif” in Occupied-France or “Jood” in Occupied-the Netherlands) on their outer shirt or coat.

The Jews had to use their Clothing Ration Coupons and their own money to buy these Stars. It had to be permanently sewed on (not pinned), be a certain size and be clean and visible at all times. Refusing or forgetting to wear this enforced Star was punishable by imprisonment or death on sight.

The new law didn’t change the 1939 Identification Law in occupied-Poland. For example in German-Occupied Warsaw, Poland the Jews had to wear the Blue Star of David on a White Armband, but in German-Annexed Krakow, Poland the Jews had to wear the Yellow Star of David.

In May 1945 the Allies struck down the Racist Nazi Laws including the forced use of "Israel" or "Sara" and the "J." on all Kennkarte.

On January 1, 1951 West Germany started issuing its Mandatory Personalausweis to all of its Citizens (Jews and Non-Jews) and any reference to Race or Religion was outlawed.

On November 1, 1953 East Germany started issuing its Mandatory Personalausweis to all of its Citizens (Jews and Non-Jews) and any reference to Race or Religion was outlawed

81: The End

 

81 years ago today (August 15, 1945) World War 2 ended with Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day.)

 

75 Million Men, Women and Children died during World War 2 (1939-1945.)

55 Million of that Number were Civilians.

 

Canada:

In 1939 Canada had a Population of: 11,267,000

42,000 Canadian Soldiers died during the War.

1,600 Canadian Civilians died during the War.

53,174 Canadian Soldiers were Wounded during the War.

 

The United Kingdom:

In 1939 the United Kingdom had a Population of: 47,760,000 (not including British Colonies.)

383,700 British Soldiers died during the War.

67,200 British Civilians died during the War.

376,239 British Soldiers were Wounded during the War.

 

The United States of America:

In 1939 the United States had a Population of: 131,028,000 (not including American Territories of Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, etc.)

407,300  American Soldiers died during the War.

12,100 American Civilians died during the War.

671,801 American Soldiers were Wounded during the War.

Pictures

Pictures

During the Holocaust, people went to great lengths to save precious photographs.

Rosa Liebermann hid this photo of her Son, Alex, in her mouth during Concentration Camp Selections.

Had she been caught she would have been shot.

 Her Son did not survive and this is all she had left of him.

This makes me stop and think while I am digitalizing and preserving Family Photos of my own.

84: Janusz Korczak

 

84 years ago today (August 5, 1942) Janusz Korczak boarded a Cattle Car with Several Adult Staff (Stefania Wilczyńska, Natalia Poz, Róża Lipiec-Jakubowska, Róża Sztokman-Azrylewicz and Sabina Lejzerowicz) and 200 Orphans in the Warsaw Ghetto and 2 days later they were all Gassed by the Germans in the Gas Chambers and their bodies cremated at the Treblinka Death Camp within an hour of arriving.

Janusz Korczak was born Henryk Goldszmit on July 22, 1878 to an assimilated Jewish family in Warsaw, Poland. He was an Author, a Pediatrician and a Pedagogue.

In 1911 he established the Dom Sierot (House of Orphans) in Warsaw. In the 1920s and 1930s he published many Children’s Books.

His works were extremely popular in Poland and around Europe to both Jews and non-Jews. In 1934 and 1936 he traveled to Palestine (then a British Mandate) and tried to get permission for his Orphanage to leave Warsaw (due to official Polish Anti-Semitism), but official British Anti-Semitism made that impossible.

After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 and the establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940 (where his Orphanage was forced to relocate since it was not inside the Ghetto Walls) he focused on running his Orphanage and trying to get enough food for his Children as well as organizing different concerts and activities to both shield his Children from the hunger and death around them as well as to keep public awareness up (with both the Germans and the Jewish Administration – hoping it would save his Children.)

He also kept a Diary - which was published in Poland in 1958.

When he learned that his Orphanage was to be closed and all 200 Children deported he was offered to be hidden in the Non-Jewish part of Warsaw by both the Jewish Resistance inside the Warsaw Ghetto and the Non-Jewish Resistance in Warsaw.

He refused since he couldn’t take his Children.

On August 4, 1942 during the Grossaktion Warschau (Great-Action Warsaw) where the Germans deported 300,000 Men, Women and Children from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Death Camps; 200 Children, their 12 Teachers and Korczak marched through the streets of the Warsaw Ghetto (with one of the Children holding their Orphanage’s Jewish Flag) to the Umschlagplatz (Collection Point) to board the Cattle Cars.

At the Umschlagplatz a German Soldier, who had read Korczak’s Books to his own Children when they were younger, tried to convince him not to board the train and go to his death, but when Korczak was told the Children would have to still go he said he couldn’t leave them to die alone and so boarded the Cattle Train.

Two days later they arrived at Treblinka and were gassed and cremated within 2 hours of arriving.

Korczak is commemorated in a number of Monuments and Plaques in Poland, mainly in Warsaw.

The best known of them is the Cenotaph located at the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery, which serves as his symbolic grave since 1982 and recast in 2002.

In 1925 he received the Officer's Cross of the Polish Order of Polonia Restituta.

In 1931 he received the Silver Cross of Merit.

In 1937 he received the Golden Academic Laurel.

In 1947 he Posthumously received Commander's Cross of the Polish Order of Polonia Restituta.

In 2006, the Janusz Korczak Monument in Warsaw was made in the Świętokrzyski Park.

In 2016, Decommunization Policies renamed the Nikolay Bauman Street in Kyiv, Ukraine after Korczak.

In 2018 he Posthumously received Order of the White Eagle of Poland.

In 2023, the Janusz Korczak Hospitalization Unit in the Department of General Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases of the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital at the Assistance-Publique Hôpitaux de Paris in France was created.

A Minor Planet, 2163 Korczak, is named after him.

The Picture is of Janusz Korczak and his Orphans in the 1940s.

82: Arrest

82 years ago today (August 4, 1944) Anne Frank’s Hiding Place was raided by the German Uniformed Police (Grüne Polizei) led by SS-Oberscharführer Karl Silberbauer of the Sicherheitsdienst.

The Franks, Van Pelses, and Pfeffer were taken to RSHA Headquarters, where they were interrogated and held overnight.

 On August 5, 1944, they were transferred to the Huis van Bewaring (House of Detention), an overcrowded Prison.

Two days later they were transported to the Westerbork Transit Camp in the northern part of German-Occupied the Netherlands, through which more than 100,000 Jews, mostly Dutch and German, had passed.

Having been arrested in hiding, they were considered Criminals and sent to the Punishment Barracks for Hard Labor.

On August 7, 1944, Miep Gies attempted to facilitate the release of the Prisoners by confronting Silberbauer and offering him money to intervene, but he refused.

On September 3, 1944 Anne and everyone else from the Hiding Place was deported by Cattle Car on the last train to leave Westerbork for the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland where they arrived 3 days later.

Of the 1,019 Passengers, 549—including all Children younger than 15—were sent directly to the Gas Chambers and murdered. Anne, who had turned 15 three months earlier (the minimum age the Germans allowed Prisoners to do Hard Labor) entered Birkenau.

 The Men were separated from the Women. It was the last time Anne saw her Father.

Anne was forced to haul rocks and dig rolls of sod by day; by night, they were crammed into overcrowded barracks. Being outside all day she regularly saw People walking to their deaths in the Gas Chambers.

In October 1944 their Group was selected to leave Auschwitz and go to the Leibau Labor Camp, but Anne had contacted Scabies and so went to the Camp’s Hospital instead. Margot and their Mother volunteered to stay in Auschwitz to care for Anne.

On October 28, 1944, after recovering from Scabies, Anne, Margot and Mrs. Van Pels left Auschwitz and went to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in Germany.

Around March 1945, Anne died from Typhus at 15 years old a few days after her Sister, Margot who was 18 years old.

They were both buried in an unknown Mass Grave.

In July 1945, after Otto Frank learned that his whole Family had died, Miep Gies gave him Anne’s Diary.

t was first published (in Dutch) in 1947, in German and French in 1950 and in English in 1952. It is currently published in 70 Languages.

Forced Laborer

After World War 2 ended in 1945 there were 11 Million Displaced People in Europe.

(A 14-year-old Ukrainian Forced Laborer repairs damaged motor vehicles in a Berlin Workshop of the German Wehrmacht. January 1945.)

Most were used as Forced Laborers by the Germans from 1939-1945.

During the War the Germans abducted 15 Million Non-Jewish Men, Women and Children from 20 German-Occupied Countries across Europe and used them for Forced Labor for the German War Effort inside Germany.

During the War the Germans abducted 7 Million Non-Jewish Men, Women and Children from Poland and the Soviet Union (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians, etc.) aged 10-70 calling them Ostarbeiter or Eastern Workers sent them to Germany and treated them more harshly than Forced Laborers from any other Country.

During the War the Germans abducted (under the Codename: Heuaktion  or Hay Operation) 50,000 Non-Jewish Polish and Ukrainian Children aged 10 to 14 years old and used them as Forced Labor for the German War Effort in Germany.

Of the 3 Million Soviet Prisoners of War captured by the Germans during the War 200,000 were used as Forced Laborers in Germany. The rest were sent to die in Death and Concentration Camps.

During the War the Germans abducted  34,140 Non-Jewish Women from across German-Occupied Europe and forced them to serve as Sex Slaves for German Soldiers.

During the War the Germans used Vernichtung durch Arbeit or Extermination Through Work on Millions of Jewish Men, Women and Children in Ghettos, Concentration Camps and Death Camps. The exact number of Jewish Forced Laborers is unknown.

 

Helping the Displaced Persons:

In 1943, while the War was still going on, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was created to help return the Millions of Jewish and Non-Jewish Displaced Persons across Europe.

The International Refugee Organization (IRO), a temporary organization of the UN, was founded in April 1946 and took over the functions of UNRRA.

The IRO dissolved itself in 1952.

Returning the Displaced Persons by the UNRRA and the IPO:

5.2 Million Soviet Civilians and Soviet Prisoners-Of-War were repatriated to the Soviet Union.

Every single Soviet Men, Women and Child that was used as Forced Labor in Germany along with Millions who were used as Forced Labor in German-Occupied Soviet Union were treated as Criminals by the Soviet Government with most going from a German Concentration or Death Camp to a Soviet Gulag for years.

The United States stopped Forced Repatriation of Soviet Citizens to the USSR in October 1945.

1.6 Million Polish Men, Women and Children went back to Poland.

1.5 Million French Men, Women and Children went back to France.

900,000 Italian Men, Women and Children went back to Italy.

300,000 Czechoslovak Men, Women and Children went back to Czechoslovakia.

300,000 Dutch Men, Women and Children went back to the Netherlands.

300,000 Hungarian Men, Women and Children went back to Hungary.

Millions more Displaced Persons went back to their Home Country on their Own.

Millions of Displaced Persons could not or did not want to return to their Home Countries (mainly because of the new Soviet-Backed Communist Governments there.)

300,000 of Jewish Displaced Persons could not or did not want to return to their Home Countries.

 

German Reparations After the War:

 

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (1951) signed by West Germany and 23 National and International Jewish Organizations.

$90 Billion US Dollars have been given to Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Relatives since 1952.

Jewish Holocaust Survivors living in the Soviet Union or behind the Iron Curtain could not receive any money until 1992.

 

The Reparations Agreement between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany (1952) signed West Germany and Israel.

Israel has received $97.21Billion US Dollars since 1952.

 

The London Agreement (1953) signed by West Germany and covered Belgium, Canada, Ceylon, Denmark, France, Greece, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Pakistan, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Yugoslavia.

The USSR and other Communist Countries (including East Germany) refused to be involved.

It included Debt from World War 1, the 1920s, the 1930s and World War 2.

On October 3, 2010, the last Debt Payment of 69.9 Million Euros was made.

 

The Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" (2000) a project of the German Federal Government and 6,500 Companies of the German Industry Foundation Initiative was established to give Reparations to Jewish and Non-Jewish Forced Laborers.

$11.8 Million US Dollars were given to Forced Laborers (mostly from the Former Soviet Union: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia who were forbidden to receive any Reparations from 1945-1991) from 2000-2007.