Nathan and Miriam Sadik papers

Nathan Sadik (1917-2010) was born Nachman Mendel Sadyk on 17 June 1917 in Mława, Poland to Josef Dowid and Ruchla (née Appelmann) Sadyk. Nathan had three younger sisters: Golda, Chaya Rivke, and Gitel. His father worked as a shoemaker and the family was Orthodox. After completing grammar school he worked in a flour mill to help support the family. After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Mława was occupied. The Germans burned down all the synagogues and Jews soon had to wear yellow stars on their clothing. In December 1940 Nathan’s parents and sister were deported to a different ghetto. Nathan remained in the Mława ghetto by hiding during the round-up and then staying with his uncle. In 1941 his family returned to the Mława ghetto, but in fall 1942 Nathan’s grandfather, Abraham Eliezer Opalka, was deported to Auschwitz and killed immediately. In November 1942 Nathan the rest of his family were also deported to Auschwitz. His parents were killed immediately, and Nathan never saw his sisters again. He was trained as a bricklayer and worked as a forced-laborer constructing new buildings in the camp. Shortly before the Germans evacuated Auschwitz in early January 1945, Nathan developed an acute appendicitis. Jewish doctors operated on him in the camp infirmary. Because he was in the infirmary, he was spared the death march out of Auschwitz as the Soviet Red Army approached. On 27 January 1945 Nathan was liberated. He soon met fellow survivor Miriam Mirla in Auschwitz and they travelled first to Mława to search for surviving family. They then travelled to Bratislava, Budapest, and ultimately ended up at the Ebelsberg displaced persons camp in Linz, Austria. Nathan and Miriam married in late 1945, and their son Moshe (later Murray Sanders) was born on 5 August 1946. In December 1948 they immigrated to the United States aboard the Marine Marlin and settled in Buffalo where their daughter Carla was born.

Miriam Sadik (1915-1982) was born Miriam Mirla on 11 July 1912 to Moshe (b. 1880) and Krjndel (née Stypenholc) Mirla. Her father was a blacksmith. Miriam had five younger siblings: Czarna (b. 1914) and Leja (b. 1923), Yitzchak (b. circa 1929), Malka, and Shlomo (b. circa 1933). Miriam married Yosef Skurnik prior to World War II, and their son Chaim was born in 1935. The family lived in Warsaw. Miriam and her husband and son were incarcerated in the Warsaw ghetto in October 1940. They were deported to Majdanek in May 1943. Both her husband and son perished there. Miriam was sent to Auschwitz II-Birkenau in June 1943 and then transferred to Ravensbrück in January 1945. She was sent to the Malchow subcamp and then the Taucha forced-labor camp where she escaped from a transport and hid for a few days. Having nowhere else to go, she returned to Auschwitz as a displaced person. Shortly after her arrival, she met Nathan Sadik. They went to his hometown of Mława, Poland. By 1946 they had moved to Austria, first staying in Braunau and then the Ebelsberg displaced persons camp in Linz, Austria. Miriam and Nathan married in late 1945, and their son Moshe (later Murray Sanders) was born on 5 August 1946. In December 1948 they immigrated to the United States aboard the Marine Marlin and settled in Buffalo where their daughter Carla was born. Miriam’s sister Malka Blotnik, who survived the war in the Soviet Union, was her only immediate family member who survived the Holocaust.