Emotional Journey from page 25
65 Years
Left: Zygie Allweiss
works in an ORT
machine shop in
Germany after the
war.
of Caring
Right: Zygie
Allweiss sits while
men dig at the site
of a Nazi labor
camp searching for
the remains of his
mother.
for the Jewish
Community
Uncovering The Past
Michael Schwartz
Helping Job
Seekers
Michigan's dire economic climate has
affected our neighbors, friends and
relatives who are unemployed, facing
financial crises and feeling hopeless
and embarrassed. JVS' employment
specialists and career counselors
provide the light at the end of the
tunnel by teaching them how to
conduct a job search, remain active
and energized as they learn how to
identify viable career targets in this
economy and find employment.
Learning to identify new skills and find
a job is made easier with the support
of JVS.
Need employment or a career
change?
JVS can help.
It took time to find Biesiatka, a labor
camp in south-central Poland where
Zygie and other family members stayed.
On the day of the camp's liquidation
— March 7, 1943 — Zygie and Sol
made separate escapes.
Considering that his three sisters
were shot and buried in a mass grave,
Zygie said he's glad his mother Esther
died of typhus and hunger two weeks
earlier. At the time, he was in a coma
from typhus. Decades later, Zygie finally
asked Sol, "What happened to Mother?"
Sol said that under cover of darkness,
inmates had buried Esther six feet
down, near the only big tree at the labor
camp.
Another reason Zygie sought pro-
ceeds from his family's land was to pay
for exhuming Esther's remains and
bringing them to Detroit. He wanted a
proper Jewish burial for her.
Before leaving home, Zygie and I
sought information about claiming the
Allweiss land. We were quoted $5,000,
just to obtain a Polish attorney's legal
opinion. My letters to Zygie's congress-
man, a U.S. senator, the Polish consulate
in Chicago and embassies in Poland,
yielded sympathetic replies but no
assistance. Never one to give up, Zygie
said we'd see what was possible to do
while in Poland. As it turned out, no
land records were found at government
offices we visited in Mielec and Tuszow
Narodowy.
'Almost Like Relatives'
29699 Southfield Rd.
Southfield, MI 48076
(248) 559-5000
ww\;v.jvsdet.org
26
April 12 • 2007
.114
Janek and Janina Dudzik invited us to
stay with them in Mielec. Janek was
about 5 when his parents took in the
brothers. The American Dudziks told us
how excited Janek was to be hosting us.
The Dudziks we met in Poland
seemed almost like relatives. I learned
who was who from family photo
albums. A running joke was reminding
Zygie to "talk English" to me and "talk
Polish" to them. Janina made wonder-
ful meals, including hearty soups and
pirogies.
Janek and two sons made the four-
hour round trip to get and return us
to Warsaw. In between, Janek drove
anywhere we wished to go, while
Zygie helped pay for fuel. We toured
the dilapidated Dudzik farmhouse in
Czajkowa, where Dad recalled eating
with the family from a pot on the floor.
The woman next door told Zygie that
she and her husband always knew the
Dudziks were hiding the boys. The
man gave him a tearful hug. Zygie told
him, "Thank you for not telling any-
one!'
The Allweiss home was destroyed
in the 1939 invasion of Poland. On my
first visit, I saw a fence around their
land. Now, neighbors had encroached
on some of it. Zygie felt sad and dis-
gusted with the situation.
Outside the Jaslany church, Zygie
revealed a grim memory. In January
1941, two of his aunts and an uncle
were murdered when they couldn't keep
up with the mass migration of Jews to a
ghetto several miles away. Also, because
the Dudziks attended church in Jaslany,
Zygie took time to honor Maciej and
Zofia at their cemetery monuments.
Our biggest moment was finding the
labor camp. Janek knew Biesiatka was
off Highway 875. We were returning to
Mielec when Zygie told Janek to turn
back to the road just passed. An elderly
man at a nearby cemetery said to "go
deeper into the woods!'
When we reached two posts block-
ing the road, Zygie looked left and said,
"That's the place!"
Biesiatka was a sandy clearing, sur-
rounded by forest. Upon noticing a wide
stump, we felt certain we'd found the
former "big tree?'
Zygie was so excited. "Someone was in
the car with me" telling him to take this
road, he said.
Talking later with our hosts, Zygie
asked for help to find people to dig at
the site. He said finding the remains of
his mother "is the most important thing
in the world to me!'
The Dudziks implemented his proj-
ect. A supervisor advised three men
to excavate in a spoke pattern, about
six feet apart. Uncovering white sand
mixed with dark soil would indicate a
possible burial.
While waiting, Zygie spoke about
Biesiatka and located the road Jews
were forced to build. He said the fore-
man sent him back to the barracks on
the day of the liquidation. Dad retraced
the route of the truck that took every-
one but him to their deaths. When he
pointed out exactly where he fell off
the truck undetected, I felt a chill. His
stories were more vivid told where they
happened.
No roots from a tree were discovered.
Janek walked around and noticed a size-
able depression where a large tree might
have been removed. Digging in the new
spot proved futile as well. Finally, Zygie
asked me to gather soil in the film can-
isters I'd brought. We said Kaddish for
Esther. Zygie paid the men, and everyone
departed.
Zygie came home convinced that
Poles have better attitudes toward Jews.
Christians were kind wherever he went.
They really listened to him. He found
Polish people who not only were inter-
ested in what happened to his family,
but genuinely regretful. Despite some
disappointments, I believe he's realized
a sense of closure. Li
Esther Allweiss Ingber is a former copy edi-
tor at the Jewish News. She is the eldest of
the five children of Zyga and Irma Allweiss,
who live in West Bloomfield. Esther and
her father will present their video during
CHA1M's Yom HaShoah program, 7 p.m.
Monday, April 16, at the Jewish Community
Center in Oak Park. Co-sponsors are
Workmen's Circle and the Program for
Holocaust Survivors and Families. Admission
is free.