Diamond and Weinrib families papers

Ruth Diamond was born Rywka Mam on 29 September 1926 in Białystok, Poland to Szolem and Keila (née Kalmanowicz) Mam. She had two sisters, Chaja (later Helen Weinrib, b. 1919) and Malka, and one brother, Moishe.

Ruth and Helen were forced into the Białystok ghetto in August 1941. In September 1943 they were deported to Blizyn and Majdanek, Kraków-Płaszów in July 1944, Auschwitz in July 1944, Mühlhausen in October 1944, and Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in February 1945. They were liberated by British troops in April 1945.

Ruth and Helen were the only members of their family to survive the Holocaust. After liberation they went to the Bamberg displaced persons camp. Ruth met Karl Diamond while in Bamberg. They married in 1948 and immigrated to the United States in March 1949 aboard the USAT General S. D. Sturgis and settled in Memphis, Tennessee. They had four children. Helen married Charles Weinrib (born Chaim Weinrib, b. 1917) in Bamberg in 1946. They later immigrated to the United States and settled in Los Angeles, California.

Karl Diamond (1921-2004) was born Kiwa Jozef Diament on 29 January 1921 in Tarnów, Poland to Fatel (1885-1942) and Matla (née Ungarischer, d. 1942) Diament. He had four sisters: Rachela (later Rachela Felsen, 1911-1942), Serla (b. 1915), Alta-Ethel (b. 1917), and Mala (b. 1919); and one younger brother, Avrom Yitzchok (b. 1923).

Karl’s family owned a grocery store in Tarnów which Matla managed. They also pickled cucumbers to sell to other area grocery stores and Fatel and his brother Wolf Diamant jointly owned forest land near Stępina, Poland.

Karl’s parents and brother were deported to Belzec extermination camp in June 1942 where they perished. After their deportation, Karl and his sister Rachela were forced into the Tarnów ghetto. Rachela and her daughter Perl went into hiding in August 1942, but were discovered and murdered alongside the family that hid them. Karl and his sisters Alta-Ethel and Mala were deported to Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp in October 1942. Karl was transferred to Gross Rosen in October 1944, and then Reichenbach. He was liberated in May 1945. His entire family perished during the Holocaust.

Karl searched in several displaced persons camps for surviving relatives, eventually ending up in Bamberg where one of his cousins was living. He met Rywka Mam (later Ruth Diamond) while in Bamberg and they married in 1948. Karl and Ruth immigrated to the United States in March 1949 aboard the USAT General S. D. Sturgis and settled in Memphis, Tennessee. They had four children.