Friday,..May
,
3t,
Page, Fifteeri,
THE
Lone Survivor of Family of 50 Tells Silver, Wise Protest
Further Delay in
How Nazis Tortured and Murdered Admitting 100,000
Photo by Robt. . I. Clifton, Jewish News Staff Photographer
Mrs. Jacob Cukerman and her nephew, Henrik Obranczka, who
is trying to forget the horrors of the concentration camps in his
plans for a new life in America. His first desire is to master the
English language.
The lone survivor of a family
group of fifty, Henrik Obranczka,
who has come to live with his
uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs.
Jacob Cukerman, 3295 Glendale,
owes his life, on one of several
occasions, to the chance he took
in leaping from a train speeding
toward a crematorium at 90 miles
au hoUr. He arrived in New
York aboard the SS. Marine
Flasher and was brought directly
to Detroit by his uncle.
The Obranczka family was
living in Warsaw when the Nazis
invaded Poland. They took his
brother and two sisters away
for cremation immediately. For
six weeks Henrik fought with
the underground.
After heavy bombing and in-
cendiary attacks, the ghetto sur-
rendered on May 15, 1943. The
Nazis rounded up 810 of the
remnants and herded them into
a train bound for the, Trenblinka
crematorium. On the way, the
victims, knowing they were head-
ed toward certain death, broke
a train window and leaped from
the speeding train; many were
killed, the rest hid in nearby
woods. Before long they were
recaptured •and taken to the
Maidanek concentration camp in
Poland. Here they found tens
of thousands more prisoners. All
of the strongest men were picked
out, and the rest, including
women and children, were as-
signed to - the crematorium.
Murderers Laughed at Victims
Transferred to Mataozen, Aus-
tria, Henrik was forced to carry
stone in an underground quarry.
The rocks had to be carried up
180 steps which were slippery
with blood, and Nazi guards
stood at the top laughing and
enjoying the spectacle of the
weary laborers slipping and
• crashing to their death. The
men. slept in a small room, re-
clining against each other with
the. end man's back against the
wall. In the morning, they were
wakened by a stream of icy
water, and in freezing weather
they were forced to run the
gauntlet, barefooted, of a row of
whips tipped with pieces of steel,
to reach their work. During this
period the food was 80 grams of
dark bread, varied by "soup"
made from potato peelings.
Skill in Carving Saves Life
Henrik had' a natural gift for
wood-carving, and this ability
saved his life a second time. As
a reward for carved gifts, the
chief guard transferred Henrik
to a tank factory at San Walenty,
Austria. Soon after he arrived,
the Americans bombed the plant
and damaged it seriously. When
the bombers came a second itme
the Germans fled to the woods,
leaving the Jews inside an area
fenced with electrically charged
wire.
Conditions in the factory were
hideous. Workers were flogged
to near death or locked in a
room with vicious dogs until
they vtere torn to pieces, for
failing , to produce their • quota.
•
Ten. thousand Pules and Jews
were kept in slavery here, and
frequently groups of the men
were singled out to beat their
own people.
Planned to Wipe Out 50,000
The survivors of the American
bombings were taken into the
mountains. By May 3, two days
before the liberation of Ebenze,
50,000 prisoners had been as-
sembled there from various con-
centration camps. The Nazis tried
to persuade the men to go un-
derground into "safety" tunnels
they had excavated. They re-
fused. The day after the Amer-
icans liberated the camp, the
underground works blew up—the
Nazis had intended to destroy
all their prisoners.
On one occasion Henrik and
his father were ordered to be
buried alive. They were strip-
ped of their clothes and Henrik
already had dug the hole. As
they stood, naked, waiting to be
pushed into the makeshift grave,
the father collapsed and died.
Someone intervened, on the basis
that Henrik was a pattern-maker
and badly needed as a worker.
He was reprieved.
Since Henrik arrived, friends
have been streaming into the
Cukerrnan home, welcoming the
refugee and seeking information
about friends and relatives.
Holds Her 'Fort'
NEW YORK—The State De-
partment's consultations with
Arabs and Jews on the subject
of Palestine should not involve
that recommendation of the An-
glo-American Committee of In-
quiry which pertains to the en-
try of. 100,000 refugee European
Jews, Dr. Abba Hillel Silver and
Dr. Stephen S. Wise, joint chair-
men of the American Zionist
Emergency Council, declared in a
telegram to Dean Acheson, acting
secretary of state.
Pointing out that Byrnes' state-
ment was issued at a time when
President Truman was pressing
for the "immediate entry of
loop() displaced and homeless
Jews into Palestine," the Zionist
spokesmen declared that it was
a "clear inference that fulfill-
ment of that proposal was not
to be regarded as changing the
`basic situation' and should not
therefore be subject to the fur-
ther consultation proposed."
The Zionist leaders asserted
that they were "astonished and
dismayed that despite these facts,
despite the admittedly urgent
need for action to relieve the
tragic plight' of the Jewish sur-
vivors of the Nazi terror, despite
the lapse, further, of more than
eight ,months from the Presi-
dent's initial request to the Prime
Minister for their entry into
Palestine, there is apparently
grave danger that under cover.
of the alleged need for consul-
tation the whole matter may be
further delayed and confused."
U. S. Asks Jews, Arabs
For Views on Inquiry
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The
State Department released the
text of a memorandum and let-
ter sent to Jewish and Arab or-
ganizations in this country in
which it asked for their views
on the report of the Anglo-Amer-
ican Committee of Inquiry on
Palestine, stressing that the re-,
port was "advisory in character"
and "its recommendations are
not binding."
The organizations which re-
ceived the letter and memoran-
dum from the Department were
the American Zoinist Emergency
Council, the American Jewish
Committee, the American Jewish
Conference, the .American Coun-
cil for Judaism, the American
Jewish Congress, Agudas Israel
of America, the New Zionist Or-
ganization of America, the Amer-
ican League for A Free Palestine
and the Institute for Arab Amer-
ican" Affairs, all of which testi-
fied at the Washington • hearings
initiating the work of the inquiry
committee.
Rath
At the crossroads of Judah and Moab
They halted—Naomi and Ruth.
"Entreat me pot, mother, to leave thee,
The hills of Moab are strangers to me;
For whither, thou goest, I'll follow
And whither thou lodgest, I'll lodge.
I shall cast my lot with thy people
And worship the God they adore,
And where thou diest, my mother,
die,
And there my grave shall repose.
The Lord do so to me and more so
If ought but death shall part thee from
me."
International Photo
The dawn spread forth its mantle of
crimson
As the sun rose on the hills shrouded in
mist.
- alley
They wended their way to the V
Of Bethlehem in Judah
Where new life and new hope
Awaited them there.
This happened in the Days of the
Judges;
Yet the urge has never been stilled.
From all lands they come, the Ruths
and Naomis
Once more to Judah, of old
To cast off the burden of Moab,
To cast off the shackles of thralldom,
To live and to love and to toil on the
soil
In peace and in concord
For ages to come.
ANONYMOUS.
WAC CPL. ESTHER LEVY re-
turned to her Miami, Fla., apart-
ment, on furlough, to find it oc-
cupied by two men. Having paid
rentals regularly for her two
years of service, she dared any-
one to put her out. From the
look On her face she means it—
and intends to held her "fort."
Youth Aliyah Asks Admission
To Zion of 40,000 Children
GENEVA (JTA) — Thousands
Gingold Will Teach
of Jewish children in Central and
At Colorado College
Eastern Europe are on the march
Josef Gingold, concertmaster in an attempt to reach Palestine,
of the Detroit Symphony Orches- a representative of the Jewish
tra, has left for Colorado Col- Agency told the closing session
lege, Colorado Springs, where he of the European Youth Aliyah
will conduct special music classes conference. Most of the children,
during July and August.
he said, are orphans who have
Mr. Gingbid will return to De- been living in various parts of
troit Oct. 8 to resume his post Europe.
with the symphony and . to con-
Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog of
Palestine arrived in Montreux.
duct his concert series.
Couple,. Separated by Nazi. Slayers
Of Families, Had Many Escapes
Photo by Robt. I. Clifton. Jewish News Staff Photographer
David and Gene Slabeck, now living with their uncle, Zigmund
Slabeck, (left), exhibit their tattooed concentration camp BUM-
hers.
Reunited after years of suffer-
ing at the hands of the ,Nazis,
David Slabeck . and his wife,
Gene (Haut) have reached the
safety of an American home:
They arrived in New York on
the SS. Marine Flasher, and are
now living with their uncle and
aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Zigmund Sla-
beck, 9635 Petoskey.
The couple were listed as
"Team 503" by UNRRA, em-
barking from the Assembly
Center at Zeilsheim, Germany.
Natives of Kielce, Poland, the
young Slabeks were separated
when the Nazis rounded up 27,-
000 out of the 28,000 in the
ghetto, including David's mother,
a brother, two sisters and a
nephew, and sent them to the
gas chambers at Trenblinka, near
Lublin. Being young and strong,
David was transferred 'to work
in the coal mines, and later, was
moved to Buchenwald, where
he worked breaking stone.
Awaited Gas Chamber
Gene was taken to Bergen-
Belsen and herded with hundreds
of others into a barn, waiting
for their turn in the gas cham-
bers. Her family was wiped
out completely.
David next was taken to Hin-
denburg to work in a foundry,
and when the Russians approach-
ed, he was among 3,500 who
were forced to march for eight
days and ride for another eight
days in an open train, headed
for Czechoslovakia. His feet and
ears were frozen. When final-
ly liberated, David weighed just
69 pounds and was unable to
walk. He now is regaining his
health and today weighs 135
pounds.
All but 500 of the party died
before reaching their destination.
David was sent to the hospital,
and while there learned of his
wife's whereabouts. Upon his
release he was granted a pass to
visit her.
The gruesome story of what
was happening to Trenblinka was
revealed by one of the intended
victims . from Kielce, who, when
the group was being stripped
and their clothes loaded into
boxcars, hid under the gar-•
ments, then jumped from a
window as the train neared
Warsaw. The fat from the
bodies of his friends, he report-
ed, was rendered to make soap.
Later, in. Frankfurt, they found
some of the soap, and a Jewish
army chaplain buried it with
solemn funeral rites.
David and Gene still bear their
concentration camp numbers
tattooed on their arms. His is
B-863, and hers, A-14706. No
initial was used to distinguish
the men's numbers from the
women's until after 200,000 had
been branded, David said.
HIAS, the NRS and the Jewish
Women's Social Service cooper-
ated in effecting the Slabecks'
rescue from Europe.
Henry Starkman, Sister, Rescued
Another refugee, Henry Stark-
man,- 24 years old, arrived on the
SS. Marine Flasher, and now is
living with his uncle and aunt,
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Friedman,
3764 Clements. Henry was born
in Lodz, Poland. A sister, Hanka,
16, is 'in New York and will
come' to Detroit later. His
father died from starvation in
a Polish ghetto and his mother,
a prisoner at Bergen-Belsen,
died before the camp was lib-
erated.
Szajndla Frydman, with Izak
and Bella, originally were to
have joined their relatives, Mr.
and Mrs. Joe Boxer, who lived
at 4246 Monterey. However, Mrs.
Pessa Kovitz, 4069 Sturtevant,'
a sister-in-law of Mrs. Boxer,
received word that they have
gone direct to Los Angeles where
the Boxers went to live several
months ago.
Ciano's Opposition to Nazi
Anti-Jewish Acts Revealed
Documentary Evidence Bares Extensive Italian Fascist
Sabotage of German Orders to Persecute Jews;
Thousands Saved From Deportation
NEW YORK (JPS) —D o cu-
mentary evidence revealing ex-
tensive Italian Fascist opposition
to the German' policy of Jewish
persecution and extermination
while Italy was an active ally o
Germany during World War
was unearthed in files of the
Gestapo and SS (Elite Guard) in
Paris and the Italian Foreign
Ministry in Rome, by Dr. Chaim
Weizmann, world Zionist leader,
and Angelo Donati, undercover
leader of Jews in occupied
France, Delbert Clark, New
York Times correspondent, re-
ports in an exclusive dispatch
from Rome.
According to the documents,
the late Count Ciano, Italian
Foreign Minister and son-in-law
of the late Benito Mussolini, was
the fountainhead of Italian
plot to protect Jews from the
German's by evading and check-
mating 'German enforcement of
'racial and religious laws.
Turkish Jews, Spanish Jews,
alien husbands of Italian Jew-
esses, as well as Italian. Jews
themselves were protected by
Italy, the documents shoW, wher-
ever possible. Italian consulates
in German-occupied 'Europe be-
came virtual passport mills to
enable Jews to move out of dan-
ger zones into Italian . national
Aerritory or possibly to their
homelands.
In Italian-occupied territory,
particulally in France, anti-JeW-
ish laws were 'sabotaged openly,
and a most friendly relationship
developed between Italian troops
and Jewish residents, regardless
of their national origin. Thus
thousands of Jews were saved
from deportation and death.