obituaries
A Survivor's Quest
David Sachs
Senior Copy Editor
T
wo weeks before he died,
Shoah survivor Zygie Allweiss
was the acclaimed honoree
at the Holocaust Memorial Center in
Farmington Hills.
Zygie, by now 87 years old and wheel-
chair bound, was the revered guest at a
talk by two authors whose book docu-
mented the struggles of Polish Jews who
escaped death through the help of sympa-
thetic Poles.
In the opening chapter of their book,
They Were Just People: Stories of Rescue in
Poland During the Holocaust, authors Bill
Tammeus and Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn
told the harrowing story of Zygie Allweiss
— who was a mere 12 years old in 1939
when World War II began.
Zygie and his late brother Sol, then only
14, turned out to be the only survivors of
a family that consisted of their mother,
father and nine children.
Upon hearing of Zygie's courage and
resilience, the audience at the event gave
him a heartfelt standing ovation, and
Zygie, although extremely frail, man-
aged to stand up from his wheelchair to
acknowledge the praise.
For many years, Zygie was a docent at
the Holocaust center, sharing his story of
bravery in the face of genocide with hun-
dreds of visitors, most of them school-
children. Zygie's night of exultation at the
authors' lecture turned out to be his last
public outing.
Zyga "Zygie" Heller Allweiss died
peacefully Aug. 20, 2014, in his West
Bloomfield home — near his beloved
wife of 65 years, Irma, and after hearing
the voices of all five of their children the
night before. He was born in the village
of Jaslany, Poland, and immigrated to
America with his brother after the war.
In Detroit, Zygie graduated from
Wilbur Wright High School with honors
in 1949 and studied a few years at Wayne
University. The brothers learned auto
mechanics through ORT. In 1952, the two
went out on their own and leased a gas
station from Citrin-Kolb Oil Co.
Many in the local Jewish community
fondly remember Zygie and his brother
as proprietors of neighborhood gasoline/
service stations, including Sol & Zygie's
Standard on Dexter near Davison and on
McNichols near the University of Detroit.
Later, they had the popular Mobil sta-
tion at 10 Mile and Greenfield on the
Southfield-Oak Park border.
"Dad was one of the good guys, a char-
ismatic man people liked:' said daughter
Esther Allweiss Ingber, speaking at the
funeral. "He offered strong opinions, a
few jokes and practical wisdom.
"He and Sol worked hard and achieved
86 August 28 • 2014
JN
the American Dream:'
Daughter Janice Young said, "Dad gave
everyone a chance. He employed African
Americans, and he employed women. His
was one of the first gas stations to have
female gas pumpers, of which I was one.
"He cared about his employees; he'd
give people advances on their pay. When
people had a big
repair bill, he'd
let them sign
for it:'
Daughter
Elizabeth
Allweiss added,
"Dad once hired
a man fresh out
of prison that no
one else would
hire and taught
him the auto
Zygie Allweiss
mechanic's trade
c. 1974
so that he could
support his fam-
ily. He gave him a new life.
"Dad would say, 'Everyone has to speak
up when there is injustice. It's the people
who don't speak up that allow evil people
to thrive and get away with crimes against
humanity:"
Son Michael Allweiss spoke of his
father's strength as a parent, saying, "Dad
was an anchor in a stormy sea:'
Granddaughter Renee Wise said, "May
the atrocities of the Holocaust and what
you survived never be forgotten or spoken
of in vain:'
Evading Death
The story of Zygie's survival was quite
remarkable. It involved narrow escapes
from death, chance reunions with family
members and jumping off a moving truck
on the way to a mass execution. Zygie
and Sol were hidden for more than a year
on the farm of a Polish couple, Zofia and
Maciej Dudzik, who had business deal-
ings with their father.
The Dudziks and their children would
have been murdered by the Germans if
it had been discovered they were har-
boring Jews. Later, Zygie made sure the
Dudziks were honored for their bravery
as "Righteous Among the Nations" by
Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and also at the
Holocaust Memorial Center's hallway of
rescuers in Farmington Hills.
The Dudzik and Allweiss families
were reunited in 1999 when an Internet
search by Dudzik granddaughter Barbara
Rzeznik in Chicago brought the families
back in contact.
Prior to being hidden by the Dudziks,
Zygie and Sol were imprisoned along with
their mother and three sisters in a slave
labor camp not far from their rural home.
When their mother, Esther, died of typhus
and starvation, Sol and other inmates
Obituaries
buried her alongside the only big tree in
the camp. Zygie was in a typhus-induced
coma at the time but was told of what
happened.
As a docent at the Holocaust Memorial
Center, Zygie would tell groups of mostly
gentile schoolchildren about his experi-
ences. For Zygie, the emotional trauma
of his child-
hood cut so
deeply that he
would admit
to the young
visitors, "I can't
remember my
mother's face:'
He would
oLLC 4LUSr sincerely advise
them, "Always
keep a picture
of your mother
with you:'
Searching For His Mother
In 2006, Zygie traveled back to Poland
for the first time, accompanied by his
daughter Esther. His intent was to find
his mother Esther's remains and bring
her to the U.S. for a Jewish burial — and
to rest in a more peaceful, sacred place.
He described his quest as "the most
important thing in the world to me:'
In Poland, Zygie and Esther stayed as
houseguests of his rescuers' son Janek
Dudzik and his wife, Janina. With the
assistance of Janek, Zygie found the site
of the camp and had workers dig near
where the burial might have been. Their
efforts, however, were not successful.
But for Zygie, the trip marked the tearful
closure of an enormous personal loss.
In 2007, Zygie and Esther returned to
Poland for the poignant presentation of
the Yad Vashem honor to the family of
his rescuers, Zofia and Maciej Dudzik.
Zygie loved gardening and animals,
and he was always a proud supporter
of Israel. In 1998, at age 71, he traveled
there with Irma and had the bar mitzvah
he never had before atop Masada — a
symbol of Jewish bravery amid persecu-
tion.
Zygie Allweiss is survived by his dear
wife, Irma; children, Esther (Mike)
Ingber, Irene Wise, Janice (Loren) Young,
Elizabeth Allweiss, Michael Allweiss;
grandchildren, Erica (Phil) Bak, Alison
Tschirhart, Jennifer (Mat) Stollman,
Sarah Allweiss-Rosenbaum, Julianna
Tschirhart, Renee Wise, Aiden Allweiss;
great-grandchildren, Benjamin, Nathan
and Ella Bak, and Clara Stollman.
He is also survived by his sister-in-
law, Frieda Allweiss; brother-in-law
and sister-in-law, Richard and Christa
Burg; nephews and nieces, Jack (Patty)
Allweiss, Ben Allweiss, liana Moss, Phil
(Kat) Allweiss, Ted (Joy) Burg, Dan
(Ember) Burg, Richard (Barbara) Burg
and Eddie Burg; grandnephews and
grandnieces, Jonathan Allweiss, Erin
(Paul) Lietzan, Frank and Gwen Burg,
and David and Aaron Burg.
More survivors include cousin,
Helen (Larry Manber) Muhlbauer; for-
mer sons-in-law, Mike Davis, Richard
Tschirhart and Larry Wise; former
daughter-in-law, Christine Borgne;
family friends, Margo Efros and Ursula
Czachor; caregivers from Marisa Home
Care.
Zygie was the son of Jacob and Esther
(Heller) Allweiss, who perished during
the Holocaust along with Zygie's siblings:
Sarah (the late Max) Federgrun, Loeser,
Gittel, Mendel, Rachel, Fishel and
Frimcha Allweiss. He was the cherished
brother of the late Salek "Sol" Allweiss,
who died Aug. 1, 2004.
Zygie also was the great-uncle of the
late David Allweiss and the late Sophia
Allweiss; son-in-law of the late Benjamin
(the late Bertha Klatzkin) Burg; and
brother-in-law of the late Harry (the late
Victoria) Burke, the late Jack (the late
Mollie) Burke, and the late Leo (the late
Gertrude) Burg.
Interment was at Adat Shalom
Memorial Park. Contributions may be
made to the Holocaust Memorial Center,
28123 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington
Hills, MI 48334, (248) 553-2400, www.
holocaustcenter.org or a charity of
one's choice. Arrangements were by Ira
Kaufman Chapel. ❑
11 MARION AUGUST,
93, of Farmington
Hills, died Aug. 19,
2014.
She is survived by
her son, Robert August
of Nevada; daugh-
ters and son-in-law,
August
Linda Gershenson of
Bloomfield Hills, Karen and Kenneth
Stern of Illinois; grandchildren, Nicolle
and Aaron Obermyer, Heather August
and fiance, Will Ezzell, Jill and Seth
Cohen, and Jason Stern and fiancee,
Meghan Stone; great-grandchildren,
Chloe and Cooper Cohen, and Payton
Obermyer. She is also survived by Joel
Gershenson.
Mrs. August was the beloved wife of
the late Sam August; the loving sister
of the late Shirley Neeman and the late
Norman Silets; the dear sister-in-law of
the late Maurice Neeman and the late
Dora Silets.
Interment was at Machpelah
Cemetery. Contributions may be made to
a charity of one's choice. Arrangements
by Ira Kaufman Chapel.