Bernard Blustein memoir

Document | Digitized | Accession Number: 1995.A.0690

Overview

Description: The Bernard Blustein memoir is a 427 page memoir describing Bernard’s memories of the initial attack by the Germans on Belarus in June 1941, his imprisonment in Auschwitz and Mauthausen, and his liberation in 1945. Written sometime after his arrival in the United States, the memoir recounts details of Bernard’s family and work life in Belarus, efforts to evade capture, assignments as a forced laborer, living conditions in the camps, and details of death marches.
Date: inclusive: 1980
Collection Creator: Bernard Blustein
Biography: Bernard (Beryl) Blustein (1905-1992) was born in Koscierzyna County, Poland. In 1941 he was living in Belarus and working as a railroad mechanic when he witnessed the onset of Operation Barbarossa in June. Bernard evaded German forces by fleeing his home with his wife and children and hiding in the woods. Eventually, Bernard was arrested and detained in Auschwitz as prisoner number 98812 for a couple years. Sometime around 1945, Bernard was transferred to Mauthausen where he was given prisoner number 123680 and forced to do hard labor. Because he was trained as a mechanic, Bernard was sent to Vienna to clean out and fix over-turned railroad cars. After Vienna was bombed, they returned to Mauthausen where he remained until he was liberated by the Americans in May 1945. Bernard eventually immigrated to the United States and settled in Philadelphia. His wife and children perished in the Holocaust.

Language: Yiddish
Genre/Form: Diaries. Personal narratives. Memoir. Personal Narratives.
Extent: 1 folder
System of Arrangement: The Bernard Blustein memoir is arranged as a single series.

Conditions on Access: There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
Conditions on Use: The donor, source institution, or a third party has asserted copyright over some or all of these material(s). The Museum does not own the copyright for the material and does not have authority to authorize use. For permission, please contact the rights holder(s).
Copyright Holder: Bernard Blustein

Topical Term: World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Eastern Front. Holocaust survivors--Belarus. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Belarus--Personal narratives. Jewish refugees. Holocaust victims’ families.
Geographic Name: Kościerzyna (Poland). Vienna (Austria). Philadelphia (Pa.)
Personal Name: Blustein, Bernard,.
Corporate Name: Auschwitz (Concentration Camp) Mauthausen (Concentration camp)

Holder of Originals: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The Bernard Blustein memoir was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1994 by the Estate of Bernard Blustein with assistance from Doris Welsh.
Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
The accessibility of this collection was made possible by the generous donors to our crowdfunded Save Their Stories campaign.
Special Collection: Save Their Stories