Overview
- Description
- Consists of a letter written by survivor concerning the whereabouts of former member of Wehrmacht; written by Georg Fingerhut in Munich to city authorities in Aachen, Germany, requesting address for person named "Gonzen or Konzen" who demonstrated kindness to Georg and a friend while prisoners in Lithuania in 1946; response by city officals inscribed on letter, lower left, as having no information on such person
- Date
-
creation:
1946 November 08
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of George J. Fine
- Collection Creator
- George J. Fine
- Biography
-
Getzel Jurgis Fingerhut (George Fine) was born on December 24, 1922, in Siauliai, Lithuania. His father, Josef, b. 1893, was a certified locksmith, as well as a professional skater and ballroom dancer, who had served in the German Navy on a mine sweeper during World War I (1914-1918). His mother, Miriam Geselsohn, owned a delicatessen. He had one brother, Eliahu, born in August 1927. George was enrolled at Polytechnic Engineering College in Kovno, Lithuania, during the period from June 1940-May 1941 when Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union. When Germany declared war on the USSR and invaded Lithuania in June 1941, George returned to join his family. The Lithuanians had carried out violent riots against the Jewish population before and after the German invasion. Now they joined with the Germans Einsatzgruppen [mobile killing squads] in murdering thousands of Jews. In August 1941, George's family was forced into the Siauliai ghetto, which was transformed into a concentration camp in September 1943. George was sent to the Linkaiciai labor camp, where he unloaded ammunition for the Wehrmacht. Later he was transferred to Baciunai labor camp to work mining peat for fuel the electric power plant. In early 1944, he worked in the outskirts of Siauliai at Heeres-Kraftfahr-Park 562, a Wehrmacht military vehicle repair depot. On July 21, 1944, the Germans deported the remaining Jews from the ghetto to Stutthof concentration camp. George’s father made sure his two sons stayed together, and in early August 1944, the three of them were transferred to Kaufering Camp 10, in Utting near Dachau, where George worked repairing trains and operating the diesel shovel. His paternal uncle, Lejbl, was in the same group. Most of the otehr inmates were also from George's home town, Siauliai. In April 1945, the prisoners were forced on a death march as the camp was evacuated. They were used as a shield to protect the German guards from Allied bombing. The United States Army liberated them on April 30, 1945, near Wolfranhausen, near Munich, Germany. His mother had died during the evacuation of Stutthof. George, his father, brother, and uncle were settled in the Feldafing displaced persons camp. George eventually returned to school at Polytechnic Engineering College in Munich. His brother, Eliahu, attended dental school. In 1947, Josef remarried a woman he knew before the war, and emigrated to Montreal, Canada. In April 1949, George left from Bremerhaven for Montreal, aboard the SS Samaria. He married Sari Marmor in 1951. Sari, originally from Romania, was a survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, a Hasag slave labor camp, as well as a death march. Josef passed away, age 81, in 1974.
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Letters.
- Extent
-
1 folder
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- The Museum is in the process of determining the possible use restrictions that may apply to material(s) in this collection.
Keywords & Subjects
- Personal Name
- Fine, George.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1998 by George J. Fine
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-23 15:10:53
- This page:
- http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn12664
Download & Licensing
- Copyright Not Evaluated
- Terms of Use
- This record is not digitized and cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Request 7 Days in Advance of Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
-
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
Bowie, MD
Contact Us
Also in George J. Fine collection
The collection consists of a concentration camp uniform jacket, a fork, and a letter relating to the experiences of Getzel Fingerhut (later George Fine) during the Holocaust when he was a prisoner in Kaufering X concentration camp in Germany and after the Holocaust in Feldafing displaced persons camp.
Date: 1944 October-1946 November
Stainless steel fork with SS runes acquired by a Lithuanian Jewish concentration camp inmate
Object
Table fork with an SS officer school stamp owned by Getzel Fingerhut. It is unclear when he acquired it, but most likely it was after his liberation from Kaufering X slave labor camp, also called Dachau 10, where he was imprisoned from August 1944 to April 1945. In August 1941, Getzel, 19, and his family were interned in the ghetto in German occupied Siauliai, Lithuania. Getzel worked in a series of forced labor camps until July 1944, when the ghetto residents were deported to Stutthof concentration camp. Getzel, his father, Josef, and his brother, Eliahu were then transferred to Kaufering 10. Getzel worked repairing locomotives and machines. The camp was evacuated by death march in April 1945. The prisoners were used by the German guards as shields against Allied bombers. Getzel, Josef, and Eliahu, and the other prisoners were liberated by US troops on April 30, near Wolfranhausen, Germany. They were re-settled in Feldafing displaced persons camp.
Concentration camp uniform jacket with badge worn by a Lithuanian Jewish inmate
Object
Striped concentration camp uniform jacket issued to Getzel Fingerhut, 22, as a replacement for his oil slicked jacket, while interned in Kaufering X slave labor camp, known as Dachau 10, from August 1944 to April 1945. Getzel was an oiler for a diesel shovel and when his jacket got covered in grease and oil ca. November, his German boss requested this one for him. He wore this jacket for 5 or 6 months, over his oily jacket, to keep warm. He made the number patch 92041, a copy of the one on his old jacket, because he would be punished if he had no identifying badge. There was only one German worker, so Getzel also operated the shovel and worked 2-3 shifts at a time. Most of the prisoners were Lithuanian Jews from Getzel's home town, Siauliai, in German occupied Lithuania. In August 1941, Getzel and his family were interned in Siauliai ghetto. Getzel was in a series of forced labor camps until July 1944, when the ghetto residents were deported to Stutthof. Getzel, father Josef, and brother Eliahu were then transferred to Kaufering 10. The camp was evacuated by death march in April 1945. The prisoners were used by the German guards as shields against Allied bombers. They were liberated by US troops on April 30, near Wolfranhausen, and re-settled in Feldafing displaced persons camp.