Bernard Rechnitz memoir

Bernard Rechnitz (1894-1970) was raised by Jewish parents in the small southwestern Polish town of Bedzin. In 1930 Bernard moved with his wife, Ruchla (later Rachel, née Lejzerowitz), to the nearby city of Katowice, where he owned a wholesale leather business. They had two children, Genia (b.1918) and Moses (b. 1923). In 1939 Bernard became increasingly concerned for his family’s safety and decided they should immigrate to Palestine. Genia had left for Palestine three years earlier to study piano at a conservatory. Bernard sold his business and the Rechnitz family packed up their household and moved to Kraków. The war broke out before they could leave for Palestine, so they remained in Kraków. By 1942 Bernard, Ruchla, and Moses were deported to a labor camp on the site of a munitions factory in Skarżysko-Kamienn. Bernard was put to work in subcamp C where workers filled artillery shells with picric acid, a yellow, poisonous powder absorbed through the skin. One day, someone dropped a loaded artillery shell that exploded injuring several people, including Ruchla, who did not survive. Over the next three years Bernard was sent to several different camps, including Buchenwald. Moses was also sent to various camps, including Dachau. After liberation in 1945, Bernard and Moses immigrated to Palestine. Moses later immigrated to the United States in 1954.