Portraits of two unidentified girls in the Neu Freimann displaced persons camp.
Overview
- Caption
- Portraits of two unidentified girls in the Neu Freimann displaced persons camp.
- Date
-
1946 - 1949
- Locale
- Neu Freimann, [Munich] Germany
- Photo Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Hellen Macner Duman
Rights & Restrictions
- Photo Source
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumProvenance: Hellen Macner Duman
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Biography
- Mala Schwarc was born October 23, 1922 in Sosnowiec to parents Berel (b. Poland) and Mathilde (nee Odeburg or Oppenheim) Schwarz. Her father was a Talmid Hacham (Torah scholar) who sat on the board of education in Sosnowiec, and belonged to the Sochacower Chassidim [Sochatchov Hassidic]. Her mother, Mathilde ("Matl") had a textile shop and factory in Sosnowiec. She had one older brother, Herschel, and three older sisters: Leah, Laibe, and Chava. Before the start of the war, Herschel left for Paris, and then immigrated to Buenos Aires. Mala’s older sisters all married, Leah to Yossl Freidman, Chava to Mr. Friedrich, and Laibe to Avigdor Rozenzweig. Laibe and Awigdor had one child. All lived in Sosnowiec prior to the war.
The German army invaded Poland in September 1939 and very quickly occupied Sosnowiec, which was on the Polish-German border. A ghetto was established, and the Schwarc family was sent to live there. At first, Mathilde was able to bribe SS officers who came to her textile shop, in order to avoid deportation. In 1942 Mala was sent to the Hanndorf labor camp. Later, she was transferred to the Parschnitz labor camp, a sub-camp of Gross Rosen, where she was responsible for the cleaning the Hasseloom weaving machines. She was initially able to receive mail from her family, but the last postcard arrived in 1943, when her family was deported to Auschwitz.
After liberation, Mala returned to Sosnowiec to find that her parents, Berel and Mathilde, and her sisters Leah, Chava, and Laibe had all been killed. She left for Paris to join her brother Hershel, who had returned there after the end of the war. After staying with him, she moved to the Neu Freimann displaced persons camp near Munich, where she worked with orphaned children. Eventually, she went to the Bergen Belsen DP camp, where she met Yoel Macner, a survivor from Wolbrom. They married in 1949, and their daughter Hellen was born in 1950. When Bergen Belsen closed in 1952, the family immigrated to Australia and had two more children, Beryl (b. 1952) and Sammy (b. 1958). The family immigrated to Israel in 1971.
Yoel Macner was born May 6, 1920 in Wolbrom, Poland to parents Shmuel Shaya (b. 1890 in Wolbrom) and Chaya (nee Springer) Macner. His family belonged to the Gur Hassidim, and his father was a Hebrew teacher. Yoel had three older sisters, Hinde (b.1899), Bela (b. 1910), and Rachel (b. 1926), and one younger sister, Raisel. His mother died in 1932, after a fall down the stairs in their apartment building. His father then married Sara Goldberg, from Warsaw, and she became a stepmother to Yoel and his younger sister. The two oldest siblings married before the war, Hinde to Yossel Lieberman, and Bela to Yaakov [last name unknown].
Shortly after the German invasion in September 1939, Yoel was arrested and sent to forced labor, first in the cities of Chzrsznica and Prokocim. In 1942, he was sent to the Radymno labor camp along the Russian border, which was a particularly brutal camp. He managed to escape by bribing a guard with money that he received from his sister. He returned to Sosnowiec and was sent to the ghetto to work in the Arbeitskommando, first caring for the sick and later removing corpses. In August 1943, he was sent to Auschwitz, and then to Birkenau, where he was in the Sonderkommando. A Pole who had known Yoel’s father helped him get a job in the kitchen, which enabled his survival. At the end of the war, Yoel was sent on a death march, from which he escaped. When he returned to Wolbrom, he learned that his father, stepmother, and sisters had all been killed.
Eventually, he went to the Bergen Belsen DP camp, where met Mala Schwarz, a survivor from Sosnowiec. They married in 1949, and their daughter Hellen was born in 1950. When Bergen Belsen closed in 1952, the family immigrated to Australia and had two more children, Beryl (b. 1952) and Sammy (b. 1958). The family immigrated to Israel in 1971.
- Record last modified:
- 2020-03-31 00:00:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1184781
