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Oral history interview with Norman Salsitz

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1993.A.0088.88 | RG Number: RG-50.002.0088

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    Oral history interview with Norman Salsitz

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Norman Salsitz (né Naftali Salsitz), born in 1920 in Kolbuszowa, Poland, describes his childhood; antisemitism in secular school; his religious education in Tarnów, Poland; his involvement in a Zionist youth organization; the turning point for Jews in Poland with the death of premier Jósef Piludski in 1935; his feelings of sympathy for his country despite the persecution of the Jews; the German invasion and destruction of Kolbuszowa; his father's role as a supplier of coffee to the Germans occupying Kolbuszowa; his escape to the Russian front when threatened with arrest; his move from the Russian front to Lʹviv, Ukraine; the establishment of a Judenrat in Kolbuszowa; his work for Dr. Leon Anderman, the president of the first Judenrat; working for Twardon, the Gestapo County Leader in Kolbuszowa; his successful efforts to keep his family in Kolbuszowa when Twardon ordered 50 percent of the town's Jews to be moved to Rzeszów, Poland in June 1941; his memories of the establishment of the ghetto in Kolbuszowa; the deportation of the Kolbuszowa Judenrat to Auschwitz concentration camp and their subsequent extermination; the establishment of a second Judenrat, headed by Pashek Rappaport; being transported to a camp in the woods in Pustków, Poland; his memories of V-1 and V-2 rocket experimentation near Pustków; his work for the second Judenrat; his trip from Kolbuszowa to Rzeszów to Kraków to receive an operation from Dr. Rabinowicz for an inner ear infection; his father's murder; Gestapo orders to the Kolbuszowa Judenrat to collect ransoms, back taxes, and debts from the Jews; the deportation of the Kolbuszowa Jews to the Rzeszów ghetto; his work with his brother, Leibush, in Kolbuszowa, for Twardon; his escape from being shot by promising Twardon 25 kilos of coffee; his relationship with and work for Twardon; the daughter of Halberstam, a Hungarian Rabbi, who helped to save Jews by producing falsified documents; the liquidation of the Rzeszów ghetto on November 18, 1942; escaping from the liquidation with Leiser Spielman; living in hiding; participating and leading underground Jewish partisan groups; participating in the Armia Krajowa; the Armia Krajowa leader, Stashek Augustin; his alias as a Christian Pole named Tadeus "Tadek" Jadach which he used to gain entrance into the Armia Krajowa; the liberation by Russians in September 1944; Jews being murdered even after liberation; his service to Poland as an officer in the 59th Army under Marshall Konieff; meeting his future wife, Amalie, in Kraków; the communist regime after World War II; moving to Germany, where he worked for Brichah; immigrating to the United States; his trip to Israel during the 6 Day War to see the liberation of the Western Wall in Jerusalem; his involvement in Jewish organizations; and his numerous trips to Israel between 1949 and 1987.
    Interviewee
    Norman Salsitz
    Interviewer
    Bernard Weinstein
    Date
    interview:  1987 April 10
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Holocaust Resource Center at Kean University

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Extent
    12 videocassettes (VHS) : sound, color ; 1/2 in..

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The interview was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum along with other interviews between 1993 - 1997 by the Holocaust Resource Center at Kean College (now Kean University).
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 07:56:46
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn505553

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