Markheim, Feldman, Orzech, and Silberspitz families papers

Michael Markheim (1915-1961) was born Michal Markheim on 12 November 1915 in Kraków, Poland to Salomon Hausman Markheim (b. 1882) and Estera Markheim (née Herz, b. 1881). Michael had six siblings: Rebeka (later Rebeka Schnür, b. 8 September 1908), Natan (Nathan, 25 August 1910-24 January 1945), Yanek (born Jakob Hausman, also referenced as Jean Marks, b. 30 March 1913), Dolek (born Dawid, b. 22 July 1918), Amalia (b. 16 January 1921) and Maurice (born Maurycy, 14 February 1923-2000). His family owned a fish business in Kraków. Prior to the Holocaust, Michael married Regina Hirschstein (nicknamed Gienia). Their daughter Benita was born in Bochnia on 26 November 1940.

Michael and his family were in Bochnia after the German invasion of Poland. His wife, daughter, and Gienia’s parents were killed in front of their house in Bochnia around 1941 or 1942. He was sent to a forced-labor camp in Bochnia in February 1942 and Kłaj in January 1943. In June 1943 Michael was transferred to the Płaszów concentration camp. In October 1944 he escaped after killing a Nazi and taking his uniform.

Michael immigrated to Palestine by 1947 where he met Miriam Wollstein (1925-2014). Miriam was born on 14 July 1925 in Jerusalem and was adopted and raised by Sister Rosa Wollstein, who ran an orphanage. They married and had a daughter, Shoshana (later Susan) in 1951. In 1957 the family immigrated to the United States and settled in Los Angeles, California where they were reunited with Michael’s surviving siblings.

Most of Michael’s immediate family perished during the Holocaust including his first wife and daughter, parents, and sister Amalia. His brother Natan was deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp around August 1944 and was killed on 24 January 1945. His sister Rebeka perished in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp with her son Roman. Her husband Samek Schnür committed suicide during the war.

Maurice was deported to Płaszów in January 1943. He was transferred to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in October 1944 and then the Brünnlitz labor camp where he was saved from deportation by being placed on one of Oskar Schindler’s lists. After liberation Maurice was in the Bindermichl DP camp and then the Regensburg DP camp. He immigrated to the United States in November 1949, first living in New York and then settling in Los Angeles.

Dolek was deported to Płaszów in March 1943 and transferred to Mauthausen in August 1944. After liberation he lived in the Regensburg DP camp. He later moved to Israel where he married Lily Matzner (1921-2004) in Tel Aviv. Their son Steven was born in 1952. The family later immigrated to the United States.

Yanek was a forced laborer in 1941 and was deported to Płaszów in March 1943. He was transferred to Gross-Rosen in October 1944 and then Langenbielau in December 1944. After liberation he lived in Paris where he met and married Sylvia Tolstonog, a survivor of Bergen-Belsen. They married in 1951 and immigrated to the United States in 1953.

Michael’s relative Anna Silberspitz (born Anna Markheim, b. 1923) was born in Kraków. She was deported to Płaszów in 1942 and Auschwitz II-Birkenau in 1943. She was liberated in May 1945. Anna and her brother Romek were the only survivors of their family. She married Irving Silberspitz in 1947 and they had four children: Arthur (b. 1947) and Cecile (b. 1948), Rachel (b. 1954), and Judy (b. 1966). They immigrated to the United States in 1950 and settled in New York.