Ludwig Hiss collection

Ludwig Hiss (1929-2016) was born on 1 December 1929 in Lwów, Poland (present day Lviv, Ukraine) to Joseph (1900-1945) and Ida (née Sigulim) Hiss. The family moved to Borysław, Poland (present day Boryslav, Ukraine) when Ludwig was one year old. Joseph was an engineer and worked for the Carpathian Oil Company. In 1942 the Jews of Borysław were moved to a ghetto. Ludwig was a forced-laborer, and was detained several times. The family was then deported to the Plaszow concentration camp. Ludwig and his father were deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp in 1943. Ludwig’s mother was later deported from Plaszow to the Auschwitz concentration camp where she perished. While at Mauthausen, Ludwig worked in the kitchen, and his father briefly worked in the stone quarry. After about 3 months Ludwig and his father were deported to another concentration camp in Linz, Austria. Ludwig’s father died 2 days before the camp was liberated.

After liberation, Ludwig lived in a displaced persons camp in Linz and got a job working for the United States Army. After the camp was shut down, Ludwig went a DP camp in Salzburg, Austria. From there he went to the Zeilsheim DP camp near Frankfurt, Germany. In 1947, he immigrated to the United States on the SS Marine Perch. He went to the Bellfaire Jewish orphanage in Cleveland, Ohio. where he learned English and went to school. In 1948 Ludwig joined the United States Army. After the army, he eventually founded a custom home building company. He and his wife Carolyn, along with their two children Laura and Joseph, later settled in Kalamazoo, Michigan.