Dziunia Eichenholz was born on December 31, 1928 in Krakow to Lusia Sara Malka Eichenholz and Henryk Hirsch Eichenholz. Her older brother Bronislaw (Bronek) was born in 1925. Henryk owned a men’s custom made clothing shop, and the family lived at Dunajewskiego 6 in Krakow. Bronek studied the violin, and performed as a soloist and with the Moniuszko Conservatory Orchestra while Dziunia studied dance and piano at the Conservatory. From September 1939 through March 1941, the family lived in Krakow, and also lived in hiding in Myslenice, a small town not too far from Krakow. Also during this time, Lusia and her two children were arrested for not having Kennkarte, and imprisoned in Montelupich prison in Krakow. Henryk was spared arrest since he was out of the apartment at the time. Soon afterwards, he was able to obtain the Kennkarte and arrange for his family’s release. In March 1941 the family was forced into the Krakow Ghetto in Podgorze where they were assigned to live at Traugutta 13 in a two-room apartment with a kitchen along with nine members of the Goldstein family. In March 1943 the family was sent to Plaszow concentration camp. Throughout this time, Henryk was head of Julius Madrisch’s tailor shop and made custom-made suits for Oskar Schindler, Hans Frank, and Amon Goeth. Henryk was issued a special permit to leave the ghetto with a guard and go up to Wawel Castle to take measurements and deliver completed suits. During this time, Henryk was able to visit Maria Cichon, friend and housekeeper of the Eichenholz family, who owned a grocery store that was on the way to Wawel. Maria would bribe the guards in order to allow Henryk to stop in and see her on his trip, and at times she was also able to give the family some food. Due to Julius Madrisch’s close relationship with Oskar Schindler, the family was originally included on Schindler’s list, but eventually removed (not by Mr. Schindler or Isaac Stern). In January 1945 the family was sent on a death march to Auschwitz concentration camp. Later that month, Dziunia and Lusia were sent on a death march and also rode on open trains to Bergen Belsen, where Dziunia contracted typhus. Henryk and Bronek were sent from Auschwitz to Flossenburg, and then to Dachau where they were liberated. Dziunia and her mother were liberated in Bergen Belsen on April 15, 1945. Dziunia was hospitalized, and her mother stayed with her and worked in the hospital as a nurse. In July 1945, Dziunia was sent on a Red Cross transport from Bergen-Belsen to Lund, Sweden, where she was hospitalized for jaundice, tuberculosis, and skin problems. Two days after their departure, Henryk and Bronek arrived in Bergen Belsen looking for them. During this time, Dzuinia was placed in quarantine due to her illness. An American gentleman, who was traveling through Germany and had visited a number of Displaced Persons camps, came to the hospital with letters and notes from survivors looking for their family. Among these was a note from Bronek searching for his sister and mother. The family began to write back and forth, and a few months later Dziunia was sent to a sanatorium for TB patients in Katrineholm. It was through the work of Dr. Schwartzbart, who worked with the World Jewish Congress, that the family corresponded and was eventually reunited in Torshälla, Sweden in December 1945. In 1955, while living in Stockholm, Dziunia was married, and in March 1957 the couple moved to the United States. Lusia and Henryk followed them to California in December 1957. Bronek remained in Sweden, and he performed throughout Europe as a professional violinist.
