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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Forward
Memoir:
The Wartime Experience
Epilogue
Poland
Revisited
Appendix
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Volume 11
Marian Finkielman
Out of the
Ghetto: A Young Jewish Orphan Boy's Struggle for Survival
published by
the
Concordia University Chair in Canadian Jewish Studies
Copyright �
Marian Finkielman, 2001
"For these
things do I weep:..."
Lamentations; 1:16
Key Words
Otwock (town
in Poland, 28 km south of Warsaw), Judenrat, Karczew (town
in Poland), Kolbiel (small Polish town), Kozaki (Polish village),
Dubeczno (town by the river Bug), Sokoly (Polish village), Berczewo
(Polish village), Persow (small Polish town), Sobibor (German death
camp), Komarrowka (Polish town), Miedzyrzec (Polish town), Wohin
(Polish town), Radzin-Podalski (Polish town), Lublin, Warsaw, Wroclaw
(Polish city), Rychbach (Polish town), Piotrolesie (Polish town).
Abstract
Narrative begins
when author is eleven years old. Describes his town of Otwock, his
home and early schooling. Parents both work in Warsaw, father owns
a variety store, mother tutors children in academic subjects. In
early September 1939, his father, a soldier in the Polish army,
is killed in the German advances near Warsaw. Describes the German
policies toward the Jews, including the closing of the Jewish schools,
the wearing of an arm-band with the Star of David, and the establishment
of the Jewish ghettos. Author includes many German documents (with
English translation) acquired from the Archives of Jewish Historical
Institute in Warsaw and the State Archives in Otwock. These announce
the variety of measures taken by the Germans in their war against
the Jews. Documents also enumerate the stern measures aimed against
the Polish population, warning them of the harsh penalties they
would suffer if they helped Jews. Conditions in the ghetto compel
the author--aged 12--to begin to trade household goods for food
with the farmers in the surrounding region. Describes his tactics
in escaping from the ghetto and wandering through the countryside,
evading the German patrols and the Polish and Ukrainian bands on
the look-out for Jews. Lack of food and sanitation leads to outbreaks
of typhus. He travels from village to village passing as a Polish
Catholic. In 1941, he marks his Bar Mitzvah and is called to the
Torah. Describes his method of surviving in the countryside: he
passes as Christian and learns something of Catholic rituals and
customs, including a knowledge of the Catechism. He also learns
how to get permission from the local town administrator to stay
overnight in any particular town. Mother dies during typhus epidemic.
Travels to his maternal uncle’s town of Dubeczno, but is received
coldly and decides against staying. In spring of 1942 he begins
his vocation as a herdsman-farm-labourer which becomes the main
method of surviving in the hostile world. He recounts the many experiences
he encountered as he moves from locale to locale, acting the part
of a Polish boy, as he seeks conditions of relative safety. His
situation depends on the reception he receives from the Polish farmers.
Some are suspicious and he feels threatened; others are benevolent
and provide decent conditions and nourishing food. He recollects
a number of narrow escapes and is constantly on his guard, ever
conscious of the dangers that threaten his existence. His circumstances
change somewhat when, in February 1944, he manages to falsify his
record and obtains a Polish birth certificate, giving him a new
identity and reducing the danger of being identified as a Jew. At
war’s end, he decides not to return to his native town. Travels
to Warsaw and Lodz, then settles in the town of Rychbach where he
attends school and takes courses in professional photography, which
becomes his profession. Leaves Poland in 1969 due to the upsurge
of government inspired anti-Semitism and settles in Denmark. In
1970, emigrates to Canada. Reports on a visit to Poland in 1993.
In Appendix A recounts is experiences with post-war anti-Semitism
in Poland.
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