Oral History Interview with Caroline Gutman

Erna Schindler, nee Lowenthal, was born in Munich in approximately 1919. Her mother died when Erna was 10 years old, she was raised by her father. He had a business selling farms and farm equipment. Erna describesnever having experienced antisemitism until Hitler came to power. She and other Jewish students then had to leave their private, non-denominational school. Thereafter in Germany, she always lived in fear. For a few years, she worked for a Jewish newspaper, theBayrischeJüdischezeitungand she was told stories about how in 1933 the Germans had come in and damaged all the printing machines. In 1938, Ernaemigrated to the United states and married a German Jew who had preceded her and became her sponsor. She was befriended by a gentile friend who signed her emigration papers. Erna explains how her father was hidden in Germany for two years by a non-Jewish friend, but then gave himself up for fear of his friend and friend’s family being punished. He was also helped by a non-Jewish, youngfriend during his confinement in Theresienstadt, 1942 – 1945, and after the war until his death. Erna visited this friend in Germany in the 1960s and learned of her father’s experiences.

Genia Golombek, nee Fieman, was born on January 17, 1923 in Lodz, Poland into a religious middle class family. Her father was in the commercial wood-burning business. She attended a Polish state elementary school and then a private Jewish girls high school one of five in Lodz. In December, 1939 all the Jews of Lodz were forced into a ghetto. Genia describes life in the Lodz ghetto: the Judenrat, deeds of Rumkowski, its Jewish leader, Hans Biebow, German commandant, the round-ups and the inhuman conditions. Genia’s father worked for the Judenrat but later died of starvation in 1942. In 1944 the Jews of the Lodz Ghetto were deported to Birkenau/Auschwitz. Genia describes her life there and even being passed over by Mengele twice. In October 1944 she was sent to Lenzing labor camp (a subcamp of Mauthausen) in Austria to work making artificial wool and bomb shelters for the Germans. She mentions kindnesses by the camp commandant and two women SS guards. She was also helped by two non-Jewish prisoners (one a Frenchman) while building the underground bomb shelters. She was liberated by the Americans on May 5, 1945 in Lenzing, received food and medical help from the Americans and was relocated to Kammerscheffling (also in Austria) where they set up more aid facilities. In June, 1945 she went to Santa Maria di Leuca, near Naples, to receive aid from the Joint Distribution Committee. She was helped by the International Refugee Organization during her travels to Italy. While working for the Americans in Caserte, Italy, near Naples, she met her husband. They married and had two children. The family emigrated to the United States in 1950.

Ervin Belik, formerly Bleiweiss, was born in Mistek, Czechoslovakia, June 13 1918, the youngest son in a large family. He was educated in both Jewish and Czech schools. After the German occupation March 1939, he was warned that the S.S. was waiting to arrest him and fled to Poland in May 1939. He joined the Czech army in Krakow and changed his name to Belik. His unit landed with the Russian forces in Poland and was sent to Ukraine. He served as a member of the Czech Army unit under Russian command in Poland and Russia; under British command in Palestine and other countries in the Middle East, and took part in an attack on three French Army units suspected of being Nazi collaborators. He later served with an Australian Army unit in Tobruk. His unit returned to Palestine where he participated in the defense of Haifa and in the rollback of German and Italian forces from El Alamein to Tripoli. Mr. Belik arrived in England in June 1943 on the troopship Mauretania. He met and married his wife, a German Jewish refugee, in England. He participated in the invasion of France and arrived in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia with Patton's Third Army in 1945. Mr. Belik was discharged in January 1946 and returned to Mistek where he met his brother Ernst. is entire family except for his brother, and aHHis HHis eniree HH Hkmkjkjkjkjljklkjl His entire family except for his brother, and a sister who lives in Haifa, was murdered. Ervin, his wife and two children lived in Mistek until they emigrated to Israel on July 7, 1949. He describes their new life in Israel. This interview took place in KiryatMotzkin, Israel.

Margaret Beer, nee Weiss, was born January 9, 1911 in Sighet, Hungary. She details the swift transfer of all the Jews of Sighet in the first month of the German invasion, describing howS.S. troops moved into many Jewish homes, including hers during the German occupation, and how Hungarian authorities identified prominent Jews whomthe S.S. forced to form a Jewish Council. The Germans then confiscated Jewish businesses and personal property. Once ghettoized, the Jews were helped by non-Jewish Hungarians who smuggled food into the ghetto. She describes the evacuation of all Jewish patients from the local hospital, the formation of a Jewish police force, the evacuation of the Jews from the ghetto and the transports to Auschwitz. She describes in great detail life in Auschwitz including the initial selection, showers, barracks, Appells, work conditions, food allotment, wash barracks, and her selection by Mengele. In July 1944 she was transported to Gelsenkirchen, Germany to work in the Krupp armament industry. She describes the working conditions and Allied bombings. In September 1944 she was transferred to Sömmerda in Thuringia, Germany to work in another ammunition factory. As the Allies drew close in April 1945, the camp was evacuated; Margaret escaped during the death march and eventually found housing in a German village until liberation at the end of April 1945. She describes help from Russian POW’s and later American liberators. Her skills as a dressmaker helped sustain her until May 1946 when she could join her brother who had been living in Philadelphia.

Maurice J. Wasser served as a 2nd Lieutenant, U.S. Air Force 325th fighter group, 317th fighter squadron, from 1942 to 1945. While stationed in Italy, he flew a P-51 Mustang, protecting B-17s bombing Germany. He was shot down in February 1945 near Munich, sent to a camp in Frankfurt am Main for interrogation, then to a Prisoner of War camp near Nuremberg. The prisoners later were moved to a prison in Moosburg on a 60-mile forced march. Mr. Wasser describes conditions, and mistreatment by S.S. guards who shot men who dropped out. However, some of the older German guards helped the POW’s because they knew the war was almost over. In both camps, no Red Cross packages were received and food deprivation caused weight loss. No mail was received, no letters permitted to be sent. In mid-May, 1945, Mooseburg was liberated by General George Patton and the American 3rd Army. Mr. Wasser mentions briefly that he and other prisoners of war were invited to stay in German homes because the Germans were afraid of the approaching Russian soldiers. He was shipped to a repatriation camp in Reims, France, then to Newport News, Virginia in June 1945.