Bluma Krzepicka papers

Bluma Krzepicka (born Blima Kawałek) was born on March 15, 1927 in Zduńska Wola, Poland. Her father, Szaja Mojsze Kawałek, owned a butcher shop and her mother, Iska Markowicz, took care of the children. Bluma had a younger brother, Zalman Josef (b. 1930) and a younger sister, Chaja (b. 1934). The family was forced into the Zduńska Wola ghetto and in July 1942 Bluma was deported to the Łódź ghetto while the rest of her family were taken to the Chełmno death camp, where they all perished. Bluma worked in various workshops in the Łódź ghetto until her deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau in August 1944. After a few weeks, Bluma was transferred to Waldeslus labor camp, near Hanover, Germany. At the labor camp she worked building roads and in salt mine. In January 1945 Bluma was transferred to Bergen-Belsen. On April 15, 1945 the British Army liberated the camp. Bluma was 18 years-old and weighted 28 kilograms (approximately 60 lb). She was taken to a hospital in Malmo, Sweden, where she recuperated. In February 1949 Bluma decided to return to her hometown, Zduńska Wola where she met Hersh Mendel Krzepicki, a native of Zduńska Wola and a survivor of Auschwitz, Jaworzno and Buchenwald. They married on February 28, 1950. In 1970 Bluma, Hersh and their two sons emigrated from Poland to Malmo, Sweden
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Bluma lost all her relatives, among them: her maternal grandparents, Ita. Małka and Mendel Iser Markowicz; aunt, Rywka Markowicz Dębowska with her daughter, Ita; Symcha Markowicz, maternal uncle, with his wife and two children, Bronia Brandl Markowicz, a cousin; Chana Markowicz with her three children: Lieba, Mojsze Lajb and Ita. On her father’s side: Sara Rywka Krakowska Kawałek, grandmother; Rajzla Kawałek Białek with her husband, Wolf Białek and their two children: Szmulek and Lajb.