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Letter smuggled out of the Dabrowa ghetto shortly before its liquidation describing the fate of the Goldblum and Broda families.

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    Letter smuggled out of the Dabrowa ghetto shortly before its liquidation describing the fate of the Goldblum and Broda families.
    Letter smuggled out of the Dabrowa ghetto shortly before its liquidation describing the fate of the Goldblum and Broda families. [Translation of the letter] Dabrowa: July 27, 1943 My dear sister and brother-in-law: If you ever receive the letter I am writing to you. I do not know what happened to Itzik. He was taken to a camp somewhere, and I have not heard from him. I was able to leave Sheindele with Mr. Turkin. I met Mr. Turkin only a few months ago. I tell you, he and his wife are very decent people. They took Sheindele under their care with love. Andje and Wowtzie, you should know this when you hear some news about my child from Mr. Turkin. You should be good parents to her, and you should take care of her with love like a mother's. I am writing this letter to you during the last days of my life. I have been with Volvele and with Nadilen. We are expecting death any minute and we know what kind of death to expect. My dearest, I have been without Itzik already for three years. I manage to feed myself and my children from my work. I work in a shop ten hours a day, and after coming back from work, I do more work privately. That's how I have managed to sustain us for four years, and the end is bitter and tragic. But thank God, I know Mr. Turkin. He is an angel, and I do not have nice enough words to describe him and his wife. From the whole family, you will have only my child Sheindele. I hope she will remain alive. I am sure that Mr. Turkin and his wife will care for and save my child. My dearest, I am not in a position to reward Mr. Turkin. Please see that he is rewarded handsomely. You should believe every word Mr. Turkin tells you. You should reward him nicely because my child will remain with you. I know I am sure because I can already see the Angel of Death before me. I don't believe even a miracle can help us now. It cannot happen. You should know, Volvele, Nadilen and I are the last sacrificial victims. Aaron and his wife, Sheindele and their child are still here. Moshele's wife with one child is also still alive. My dear ones, I write this letter with blood instead of ink. I am confused. The only thing that makes it easier on my heart is knowing that Sheindele will survive. I know that she is in good hands with good people. Andje and Wowtzie, my dear ones, be good parents to your children and my Sheindele. I can feel at this moment - the pain in your heart when you receive this letter. It is not our fault. We are innocent. Our future is lost, and it cannot be changed. My dearest - please tell our uncles in New York about everything that happened to us. Be well and I kiss you all. I have so much to write to you. There is not enough paper to write everything. I am sorry, I don't have the energy to write any more. I am walking around like a crazy woman. It is terrible to die when your mind knows everything that is going to happen, and you see the Angel of Death before you. I greet you and kiss you as well as your children. Your sister who never forgot you. Your sister, Tobie. My dear ones, it hurts me terribly, it breaks my heart to write this letter to you. * * * My dear, with a painful heart, I sit to write a few words to you. Perhaps this is the last letter from me to you. I don't know if you will ever receive this letter, but if you do receive it, at least you will know what happened to your close relatives and how they disappeared. I will start with our beloved parents of blessed memory. Our loving mother of blessed memory, thank God, died of natural causes in the year 1942. On the Jewish calendar, the date is 6 Tammuz. You should observe the yorzeit [anniversary] of our mother's death. Father was killed three months later by the murderers. I am sorry to say, that from the whole family, nobody survived. There is no sign of Zurek. We are the last. We are in danger. There is no possibility of our living through this. Andje, be strong and courageous. Take revenge, if you can. We don't have a way out. We cannot run. We are surrounded on all sides. I will not write any more. I do not want to pain you. Volvche, his mother and Hela and her husband and child, thank God, are still here. If it will be possible to write, I will write to you further. Be well, Your sister, Nadka. [Note: Three days later, Dabrowa was Judenrein. The deportation from the ghetto began July 25, 26, 1943] [Translated by Morris Rosen and Tanya Rozmaryn]

    Overview

    Caption
    Letter smuggled out of the Dabrowa ghetto shortly before its liquidation describing the fate of the Goldblum and Broda families.

    [Translation of the letter]
    Dabrowa: July 27, 1943

    My dear sister and brother-in-law:

    If you ever receive the letter I am writing to you. I do not know what happened to Itzik. He was taken to a camp somewhere, and I have not heard from him. I was able to leave Sheindele with Mr. Turkin. I met Mr. Turkin only a few months ago. I tell you, he and his wife are very decent people. They took Sheindele under their care with love. Andje and Wowtzie, you should know this when you hear some news about my child from Mr. Turkin. You should be good parents to her, and you should take care of her with love like a mother's. I am writing this letter to you during the last days of my life. I have been with Volvele and with Nadilen. We are expecting death any minute and we know what kind of death to expect. My dearest, I have been without Itzik already for three years. I manage to feed myself and my children from my work. I work in a shop ten hours a day, and after coming back from work, I do more work privately. That's how I have managed to sustain us for four years, and the end is bitter and tragic. But thank God, I know Mr. Turkin. He is an angel, and I do not have nice enough words to describe him and his wife. From the whole family, you will have only my child Sheindele. I hope she will remain alive. I am sure that Mr. Turkin and his wife will care for and save my child. My dearest, I am not in a position to reward Mr. Turkin. Please see that he is rewarded handsomely. You should believe every word Mr. Turkin tells you. You should reward him nicely because my child will remain with you. I know I am sure because I can already see the Angel of Death before me. I don't believe even a miracle can help us now. It cannot happen. You should know, Volvele, Nadilen and I are the last sacrificial victims. Aaron and his wife, Sheindele and their child are still here. Moshele's wife with one child is also still alive.

    My dear ones, I write this letter with blood instead of ink. I am confused. The only thing that makes it easier on my heart is knowing that Sheindele will survive. I know that she is in good hands with good people. Andje and Wowtzie, my dear ones, be good parents to your children and my Sheindele. I can feel at this moment - the pain in your heart when you receive this letter. It is not our fault. We are innocent. Our future is lost, and it cannot be changed. My dearest - please tell our uncles in New York about everything that happened to us. Be well and I kiss you all. I have so much to write to you. There is not enough paper to write everything. I am sorry, I don't have the energy to write any more. I am walking around like a crazy woman. It is terrible to die when your mind knows everything that is going to happen, and you see the Angel of Death before you. I greet you and kiss you as well as your children. Your sister who never forgot you. Your sister, Tobie.

    My dear ones, it hurts me terribly, it breaks my heart to write this letter to you.

    * * *
    My dear, with a painful heart, I sit to write a few words to you. Perhaps this is the last letter from me to you. I don't know if you will ever receive this letter, but if you do receive it, at least you will know what happened to your close relatives and how they disappeared. I will start with our beloved parents of blessed memory. Our loving mother of blessed memory, thank God, died of natural causes in the year 1942. On the Jewish calendar, the date is 6 Tammuz. You should observe the yorzeit [anniversary] of our mother's death. Father was killed three months later by the murderers. I am sorry to say, that from the whole family, nobody survived. There is no sign of Zurek. We are the last. We are in danger. There is no possibility of our living through this. Andje, be strong and courageous. Take revenge, if you can. We don't have a way out. We cannot run. We are surrounded on all sides. I will not write any more. I do not want to pain you. Volvche, his mother and Hela and her husband and child, thank God, are still here. If it will be possible to write, I will write to you further.
    Be well, Your sister, Nadka.

    [Note: Three days later, Dabrowa was Judenrein. The deportation from the ghetto began July 25, 26, 1943]

    [Translated by Morris Rosen and Tanya Rozmaryn]
    Date
    1943 July 25
    Locale
    Dabrowa Gornicza, [Zaglebie; Katowice] Poland
    Variant Locale
    Dombrova
    Photo Credit
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Sally Goldblum Wasserman

    Rights & Restrictions

    Photo Source
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    Provenance: Sally Goldblum Wasserman
    Source Record ID: Collections: 1999.A.254

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Biography
    Sally Wasserman (born Salusia Goldblum) is the daughter of Izak and Tola (Broda) Goldblum. She was born January 23, 1935 in Katowice, Poland, where her father was a kosher butcher. Salusia had one younger brother Wolf (b. 1937). In September 1939 the family moved to Dabrowa where they were incarcerated in the ghetto. During the winter of 1941, her father Izak was sent to a labor camp and from there transferred to Treblinka, where he worked in a Sonderkommando alongside his brother-in-law, Moszek Broda. In 1942 or 1943 Moszek was instructed to accompany a train carrying the confiscated possessions of prisoners to Majdanek. Not wanting to be separated from Izak, he smuggled him aboard. After a brief period in Majdanek the two men were transferred to Auschwitz. Izak, however, soon contracted typhus and died. Moszek was evacuated from Auschwitz to Germany in January 1945 and was liberated in Bergen-Belsen in April. After her father's deportation, Salusia remained in the Dabrowa ghetto with her mother and brother. During this period Salusia met Mikolei Turkin, a public school teacher who was officially classified as a second-generation Volksdeutsch. He was assigned work as an electrical meter reader in the ghetto. He took a liking to the little girl and brought her food. After Salusia introduced him to her mother, Turkin started to bring her news of the outside, gleaned from BBC broadcasts. He also warned her of impending actions in the ghetto. Eventually Turkin offered to hide Salusia if the need arose. In preparation for that eventuality, Turkin put her through a few drills, lest she had to be removed from the ghetto in a hurry. During the last week of July 1943 the liquidation of the ghetto began. On the eve of her deportation, Tola arranged for Turkin to take Salusia. She also prepared a letter to be sent to her sister Ange (Broda) Kraicer in Toronto and a packet of family photos for her daughter to remember them by. Salusia's mother and brother were deported to their death in Auschwitz-Birkenau in early August. Salusia remained with the Turkins until May 1945. Following the liberation the Turkins were persecuted by fellow Poles and denied ration cards. They made contact with a group of returning Jews and told them they were hiding a Jewish child, but had no food to sustain her. The group agreed to share their rations if the Turkins would relinquish Salusia. The survivors then placed Salusia in a Jewish orphanage in Gleiwitz. The Turkins, wanting to be near the child, moved to Gleiwitz. They also contacted Salusia's relatives in Canada. Surviving friends of her parents found her in Gleiwitz and took her with them to Sosnowiec, but Salusia ran away to be with the Turkins. In March 1946, Moszek Broda came to Gleiwitz to find Salusia. She was still unwilling to leave the Turkins, but after three weeks agreed to accompany her uncle to the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp. From Belsen she joined a special transport of war orphans who were given permission to immigrate to the U.S. She sailed to New York on board the SS Ernie Pyle on January 16, 1947. Eleven-year-old Salusia was initially placed in an orphanage in Brooklyn, NY, but shortly after her arrival her aunt, Ange (Broda) Kraicer, came from Toronto and smuggled her into Canada. Salusia remained with her aunt's family in Toronto for the remainder of her youth.
    Record last modified:
    2009-08-12 00:00:00
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