Oral History Interview with Stephanie Clearfield
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Summary
Stephanie Clearfield, nee Orenbuch, was born in Lodz, Poland December 25, 1930. She talks briefly about her life before 1939 and in the Lodz Ghetto. She learned to hide whenever there was a search, but her mother was taken away by the Germans in 1942. Many of her relatives in the ghetto starved to death.
In 1944 she was transported to Auschwitz by cattle car with her father, brother and sister under horrible conditions. Upon arrival in Auschwitz, she was separated from them and put to work in a factory making carpets. She describes conditions in Auschwitz and living in constant fear. Even though Stephanie knew she would never see her family again, she wanted to survive and explains how she managed to do this. She was part of a death march from Auschwitz to Bergen - Belsen in deep snow without shoes.
Stephanie and other prisoners were liberated by the British Army in April 1945. The British medical staff cared for the survivors, took some to hospitals, and provided food. She describes how the conditions in Bergen-Belsen affected the soldiers. Stephanie was sent to Feldafing, a displaced persons camp. She found an uncle in America she had never heard of through HIAS. She sailed to New York on the Marine Perch with a group of children on February 1947. They lived in a house run by HIAS. Members of Stephanie’s new found family visited her and invited her to live with them in Philadelphia. She stayed with them until she got married.
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Sam Don
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In 1988, Sam added to his testimony with another interview, describing a return trip to Poland with his son and daughter.
See also Sam Don’s 1988 interivew in which he discusses his experiences on his trip back to Poland, and his wife, Shirley Don’s interview.