Concentration camp uniform pants worn by Polish Jewish inmate

Karl Targownik (1915-1996) was born in Budapest to Herschel and Beile Targownik, Polish Jews who were taking refuge in Hungary during World War I. His family returned to Poland following the war, settling in Bochnia, near Krakow, and Targownik studied science and medicine. He survived the Bochnia ghetto and labor camp, was transferred to the Płaszów labor camp, and was deported to Auschwitz in February 1944. He was assigned to Auschwitz I until May 1944, when he was transferred to Auschwitz II and assigned to the Aufräumungs Kommando at Kanada II, where he was made to clean out the trains following transports. In 1944, he was moved through Sachsenhausen to Dachau and Kaufering, where he was forced to perform forced labor for the Moll Kommando. He survived a death march to the main camp at Dachau and was liberated in April 1945. He worked for the American Intelligence Corps of the Army and completed his medical degree at the University of Heidelberg. He immigrated to the United States in 1949. His parents, sisters, and brothers-in-law perished during the Holocaust.