Harry (Chaim) Olmer

I was born in Sosnowiec which is near the German border in South West Poland on 15 November 1927. I was one of six siblings - 4 sisters and 1 brother. In the Spring of 1940 I moved with my family to a very small village called Mierchow Charsznica where my Grandmother lived as our life in Sosnowiec had become very difficult with the German occupation.

Read full story.

Ernst Verduin

Ernst Verduin was 18 when he was shipped from Amsterdam to Westerbork before being sent on to Auschwitz in September 1943. Upon arrival in Auschwitz-Birkenau he was first selected for the gas chamber but then somehow managed to leave the "gas chamber group" and join the group selected for slave labour. "An SS-officer protested loudly, but I didn't care...

Read full story.

Barbara Maria Frankiss

Barbara was born in 1938 and her earliest memories are of fleeing with her family to relatives in Kovno but once the Germans entered the town they returned to Warsaw. Her other memory took place in the Warsaw Ghetto. She recalls being forced to eat by her grandmother to keep up her strength.

Read full story.

Arek Hersh

Arek was born and brought up in Poland, the son of a boot-maker for the army. He had four siblings and was brought up in the Jewish faith in a tight-knit, loving family. He remembers going to the park in the summer, ice-skating on the river in winter and singing solos in the choir. Arek went to a Jewish elementary school and a mixed secondary school.

Read full story.