Itzhak Kotkowski was born on December 25, 1921 in Warsaw, Poland. After the Nazi invasion in 1939, Itzhak decided to leave Poland. He was arrested in 1940 by the Communists on suspicion of being an “enemy of the state” and was sent to Bialystok Prison. From there he was sentenced to forced labor in Siberia but in 1941 was given amnesty in exchange for service in the Soviet Army until the end of the war. In 1946, Itzhak was reunited with his sister Anya. In 1948, Itzhak immigrated to Israel, and there he met and married Aviva. In 1957 they moved to Mexico and then to the United States in 1979. They had two sons.

Soviet Re-education Camp

Military Life

Early Life

Reflections

Jewish Community

Antisemitism

Post War

Internment

Nazi Invasion

Escape

Lucie (Burian) Liebman was born in 1927 in Vienna, Austria. After the Nazi invasion in March 1938, Lucie, her brother Paul, and their parents moved to Czechoslovakia. Paul was sent to Scotland on the Kindertransport. Lucie joined the youth resistance movement, the Maccabeus, who conducted acts of sabotage. In 1941, her father was able to secure immigration papers to the United States. Lucie and her parents took a train to France, then to Spain, then a final harrowing train ride to Portugal. The Burians landed in Ellis Island, New York on May 1, 1941. Lucie married in 1950 and had five children.

Resistance

Kindertransport

Reflections

Immigration

Pre-War

Escape

Nazi Invasion

Antisemitism

Mark Kupfer was born in November 1929 in Nowy Korczyn, Poland- the second youngest of nine children. During the Nazi invasion, the Kupfer family hid in a bunker to avoid the round-ups, but they were eventually sent to the ghetto. Mark, with his brother and sister, escaped and were on the run for two years. They were caught in 1941. Mark’s brother and sister were killed, and he was imprisoned, tortured then sent to concentration camps. He was liberated on a death march by the American Army on April 23, 1945. Mark immigrated to the United States in 1948. He married Rose Eisenberg, and they had four children.

Reflections

Liberation

Ghetto

Escape & Hiding

Pre-War

Concentration Camps

Nazi Invasion

Antisemitism

Olga (Steinberger) Bowman was born on April 8, 1927 in Pacin, Hungary. She grew up in a Jewish home with her parents, older twin brothers and sister. In 1942, Olga left her family to go to school in Budapest. In 1944, she was forced into the Budapest ghetto. Along with hundreds of others, Olga was sent on a death march to Dachau then Ravensbruck and Oranienburg concentration camps for slave labor. Olga was liberated in May 1945 by the Soviet Army. One of the liberating soldiers became her husband. Learning Olga’s entire family had perished, they immigrated to the United States in 1949 and had two sons.

Reflections

Ghettos

Liberation

Nazi Invasion

Concentration Camps

Antisemitism

Deportation

Early Life

Sara (Rozen) Hauptman was born on August 15, 1918 in Laskarzew, Poland but grew up in Brussels, Belgium with her parents, eight brothers, and two sisters. Sara married Nathan Hauptman in 1938 and had her son Guy in 1939. After the Nazis invaded Belgium, Nathan was arrested, and Sara sent Guy and her baby Monique into hiding with Christian families. Sara worked in the resistance until her arrest and deportation to Auschwitz. She was then sent to Dachau and was liberated by the American Army in 1945. Sara was reunited with Nathan and her children. They moved to Germany in 1947 then immigrated to the United States.

Post War

Resistance

Reflections

Nazi Invasion

Concentration Camps

Life Changes

Arrest & Deportation

Pre-War

Thelma Krugman was born on February 14, 1927 in Sowina, Poland to Abraham and Faiga Krieger. Thelma had six sisters and one brother. In 1939, the Krieger family was taken from their farm but allowed to live outside the ghetto. During the round-ups, they escaped and hid in fields and the woods before finding non-Jewish farmers to take them in. Thelma and her younger sister lived in an attic for two years, until liberation. After the war, Thelma’s parents and brother were killed by Poles. Thelma and her sisters immigrated to the United States. Thelma married Leonard Krugman, and they moved to El Paso in 1975.

Reflections

Nazi Invasion

Immigration

Antisemitism

Escape & Hiding

Pre-War

Ghettos