1 00:00:00,033 --> 00:00:05,166 LW: To Auschwitz, after the selection. 2 00:00:05,167 --> 00:00:11,232 Also a new word, selection, a biological term, but we were -- selection was death or life. 3 00:00:11,233 --> 00:00:17,832 Led to a barrack, so the first step was - clothes off and shower. 4 00:00:17,833 --> 00:00:24,199 Then a group of prisoners came with haircutting machines, removed the hair from all body parts. 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,632 Not carefully, because it had to be done fast. With scraps of skin. 6 00:00:28,633 --> 00:00:39,999 And then the next phase was a row of prisoners sat on a trough and an oily, smelly phenol or carbo-liquid. 7 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:47,966 With a mop, like you use to clean a floor, dunked in, head and arms, genitals smeared. 8 00:00:47,967 --> 00:00:54,632 This smelly liquid and it burned horribly because the skin was rubbed off. 9 00:00:54,633 --> 00:00:59,499 Then out and prisoners stood there and threw us clothing. 10 00:00:59,500 --> 00:01:07,899 I was given pants with space for three and I tried to find someone big who had been given small pants. 11 00:01:07,900 --> 00:01:10,032 And we traded. 12 00:01:10,033 --> 00:01:20,266 And then we entered a barrack, were brought inside, there were -- strange, there was a beam on the outer wall with rings, to tie horses too. 13 00:01:20,267 --> 00:01:33,366 in the middle there was an aisle to a brickwall, on both sides of the long barrack, maybe 30, 40 meters, two fireplaces and chimneys for heat. 14 00:01:33,367 --> 00:01:37,732 We were about 30 people 15 00:01:37,733 --> 00:01:50,699 And then a man came into this structure and threatened us, if we had hidden valuables, jewelry, gold in our body orifices 16 00:01:50,700 --> 00:01:54,999 That we were going to be x-rayed if we were caught we would be punished. 17 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:59,599 If we hand it over voluntarily, there was a bucket there, we would get an extra portion of food. 18 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:11,199 Perhaps a few minutes passed, in my memory it was hours, we were all so tired and exhausted, then we were assigned to the blocks. 19 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:15,566 I was put in Block number 10, the youth block. 20 00:02:15,567 --> 00:02:25,866 Roll call in the morning, there were these...the way horses drink, with a few faucets to wash. 21 00:02:25,867 --> 00:02:34,166 The food was brought out in buckets, long lines, we were given one bowl for four people, each had a spoon. 22 00:02:34,167 --> 00:02:42,066 I learned how to eat fast, from the bowl to mouth, to get in as much as possible. 23 00:02:42,067 --> 00:02:45,432 There were seconds if something was left in the pot. 24 00:02:45,433 --> 00:02:58,199 I noticed that the kapo who distributed the food, sometimes reached to the bottom to get out the pototoes and vegetables, and sometimes only took the water from the top. 25 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:02,632 And when there was something left, the people lined up to get more. 26 00:03:02,633 --> 00:03:09,499 But if the kapo didn't like something, then he hit the person over the head with the ladel instead of giving soup. 27 00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:11,432 I never got in line. 28 00:03:11,433 --> 00:03:17,599 To finish this section on Auschwitz. 29 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:30,666 I see a redheaded man in front of me, a Dutchman, who said to me -- I learned from him where I was. 30 00:03:30,667 --> 00:03:36,266 And I said "it smells, what is that smell, burning, burning." 31 00:03:36,267 --> 00:03:41,899 He said, yes, that is the crematorium, the smoke, people are burning because... 32 00:03:41,900 --> 00:03:48,966 It permeated everything, the air, breathing, everything I had, the skin, the smell of burned meat. 33 00:03:48,967 --> 00:03:55,332 Around the clock, the whole time and thick smoke from the chimneys of the crematorium. 34 00:03:55,333 --> 00:04:11,232 What happened next, after about two weeks, because we didn't have any work. Because that was Birkenau, the former gypsy camp, where they gassed the gypsies to make room for us peple from Lodz. 35 00:04:11,233 --> 00:04:21,566 Suddenly someone called me, a well-nourished boy my age, with a cap also striped. 36 00:04:21,567 --> 00:04:23,899 tailor-made striped suit. 37 00:04:23,900 --> 00:04:33,232 "Leon, you are alive, come with me, I will speak to my kapo, my block elder, maybe he can take you in too." 38 00:04:33,233 --> 00:04:41,132 I was informed by this time. I knew what that meant and I wasn't very... 39 00:04:41,133 --> 00:04:48,799 I was not yet, I was informed but sexually I had not yet really reached puberty, a little late, you could say. 40 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:59,932 But this fate of ending up with homosexuals in bed, that was not what I wanted. 41 00:04:59,933 --> 00:05:04,666 I talked my way out of it, said I had to meet someone. 42 00:05:04,667 --> 00:05:10,999 But from this day on, I was filled with panic over seeing him again. 43 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:17,932 And to be led to this kapo or elder, block elder and have to share his bed. 44 00:05:17,933 --> 00:05:25,399 So in this mental state -- there was real fear. 45 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:34,266 And when I saw three barracks over from my block, between 16 and 18, a group of naked men. 46 00:05:34,267 --> 00:05:37,832 I dared to ask: What are you doing here? 47 00:05:37,833 --> 00:05:48,232 One of them said: "We have already been registered. We are all ready. We are waiting for clothes, they are going to send us out to work." 48 00:05:48,233 --> 00:05:50,932 And that word "out" was a signal for me. 49 00:05:50,933 --> 00:06:01,032 I looked around, no kapo, no SS, no soldiers, up to the block wall, barrack wall, threw off my two items. 50 00:06:01,033 --> 00:06:03,099 And mixed into the group. 51 00:06:03,100 --> 00:06:08,832 My luck and I was there, they didn't check. 52 00:06:08,833 --> 00:06:20,666 I went with the group in the afternoon to the clothes distribution, got clothes, on to the train, arrived in Oberwüstegiersdorf, Gross-Rosen. 53 00:06:20,667 --> 00:06:25,532 And I can say, I escaped from Auschwitz, illegally. 54 00:06:25,533 --> 00:06:29,332 Because three days later the youth barrack was gassed. 55 00:06:29,333 --> 00:06:39,332 There was the brother of Henryk Kupfermann, Fellah Kupfermann, who with this block, he saw it, with this youth block. 56 00:06:39,333 --> 00:06:44,332 And he saw my sister after the war, in Bergen-Belsen. 57 00:06:44,333 --> 00:06:53,366 He said, "ach, your brother is gone, I saw it myself, he was in that barrack and that barrack was gassed." 58 00:06:53,367 --> 00:06:59,232 He didn't know that I had managed to get away a few days before. 59 00:06:59,233 --> 00:07:03,666 That was the episode in Auschwitz. 60 00:07:03,667 --> 00:07:12,766 I already spoke about the moment of liberation, of becoming free, but it was long before I felt free. 61 00:07:12,767 --> 00:07:21,232 The first period was with this group that I had sought out to go by bike to the train to Constance. 62 00:07:21,233 --> 00:07:34,299 After a few days in Constance, we were accommodated in a hotel. Around the corner were the barriers to Switzerland, to the part of the city that led to Switzerland. 63 00:07:34,300 --> 00:07:38,966 The city of Constance is divided into a Swiss part and a German part. 64 00:07:38,967 --> 00:07:51,132 During the first examination they found a spot on my lung and sent me to the sanatorium of the French Army. 65 00:07:51,133 --> 00:07:56,999 On the Reichenau peninsula, for recuperation. 66 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,066 That was a good time. 67 00:08:00,067 --> 00:08:11,032 Waking up in the morning with a pack of Gauloises on the night table, cigarettes, a pitcher of red wine, no milk, no tea. 68 00:08:11,033 --> 00:08:13,366 That was the first breakfast. 69 00:08:13,367 --> 00:08:19,832 We were three in this room. 70 00:08:19,833 --> 00:08:30,866 One was a pipel and was constantly whining about whether he would ever be able to get close with a woman. 71 00:08:30,867 --> 00:08:32,999 After this experience. 72 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:43,066 And the weeks passed and I got better. Until July 14, the Day of the Bastille. 73 00:08:43,067 --> 00:08:48,532 Everyone was in the large hall for a festive meal. 74 00:08:48,533 --> 00:08:58,699 After the course, with white bread on the table, the plate wiped clean, the next course. 75 00:08:58,700 --> 00:09:05,699 And always with two nurses at my side, refilling my glass with wine. 76 00:09:05,700 --> 00:09:15,166 And I wasn't used to it and I had a blackout, a collapse, alcohol poisoning you might say. 77 00:09:15,167 --> 00:09:18,966 I started swinging my arms around. . 78 00:09:18,967 --> 00:09:31,632 And I see myself waking up from this comatose state, a large behind, I punched it, it was the French army doctor. 79 00:09:31,633 --> 00:09:43,832 And all of the sudden, I was so ashamed when I woke up and came to myself again, I prayed to be transferred to another recovery home. 80 00:09:43,833 --> 00:09:54,132 And reading all day long...there was a nice library, large, with German books. 81 00:09:54,133 --> 00:09:59,066 And from the Yiddish I could understand the content, I knew how to read. 82 00:09:59,067 --> 00:10:04,166 And in this way I began to acquire passive understanding of the German language. 83 00:10:04,167 --> 00:10:15,666 One day I drove to Constance to visit my friends in the hotel. 84 00:10:15,667 --> 00:10:22,199 There were two girls, we introduced ourselves, she said "Weintraub? We came from Bergen-Belsen. 85 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:28,999 And we met three girls there from the Lodz Ghetto, Lola, Franka und Mala." 86 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:30,866 I said, "those are my sisters." 87 00:10:30,867 --> 00:10:38,099 Again no documents, no money. 88 00:10:38,100 --> 00:10:48,899 But somehow, hitchhiking, by train, spending a night in Ulm, with a girl who had also heard that her brother was there. 89 00:10:48,900 --> 00:10:56,632 After traveling five days we reached Celle, and I asked how to get to Belsen. 90 00:10:56,633 --> 00:11:00,366 They said there was a shuttle there. 91 00:11:00,367 --> 00:11:03,066 Autos and trucks traveling back and forth. 92 00:11:03,067 --> 00:11:08,166 And then I arrived there, someone helped me get on, said "You're alive?" A distant cousin. 93 00:11:08,167 --> 00:11:16,599 He recognized me, said "your sisters are sitting" -- mourning in Hebrew is called Schiv'a, one mourns seven days. 94 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:28,432 You mark your skirt, ashes on your head and you don't cook, people come, relatives and friends, bring food to comfort the mourners. 95 00:11:28,433 --> 00:11:40,732 And they had been sitting, mourning for four days because Fellah Kupfermann had said he saw my barrack go to the gas chambers. 96 00:11:40,733 --> 00:11:45,899 The joy was immense and he said he will go ahead, prepare them so that they don't get a heart attack. 97 00:11:45,900 --> 00:11:47,966 That death had reappeared. 98 00:11:47,967 --> 00:11:53,166 It was wonderful, great joy. 99 00:11:53,167 --> 00:11:59,832 And I was registered there. 100 00:11:59,833 --> 00:12:05,799 With a small dissonance with the English officer, it was the British occupation zone. 101 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:14,532 Repeating so many times "Jewish?" "yes" "so mosaic?" I said "not mosaic" "Not mosaic, so not Jewish?" I say, "yes, Jewish, but not mosaic." 102 00:12:14,533 --> 00:12:19,932 He couldn't believe that one could be Jewish but not practicing the faith. 103 00:12:19,933 --> 00:12:24,366 I said "I am not religious. I don't have a god, my god stayed in Auschwitz." 104 00:12:24,367 --> 00:12:26,166 If there is one, then he stayed there. 105 00:12:26,167 --> 00:12:38,166 In the end he got it, even on our marriage certificate, from 1947 with my first wife Käthe Hof, it says "without religion." 106 00:12:38,167 --> 00:12:45,199 They emphasized it. She was baptized Lutheran/Protestant, I was without religion. 107 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:54,866 Back then they accepted us boys, organized a kind of school, with classes. 108 00:12:54,867 --> 00:13:04,732 That went very well until I started thinking about my existence in spring '46, I wanted to study, become a doctor. 109 00:13:04,733 --> 00:13:08,199 I knew I had only had six years of grammar school. 110 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:15,766 I received a letter from the culture attaché of the English Army in Berger-Belsen. 111 00:13:15,767 --> 00:13:25,566 They had ordered a meeting with teh dean of the medical faculty, Prof. Hermann Rein, physiologist. 112 00:13:25,567 --> 00:13:33,766 And I was accepted and after a short but very one-sided conversation "young man, it is useless." 113 00:13:33,767 --> 00:13:36,832 And me: "let me try." 114 00:13:36,833 --> 00:13:40,632 I had taught myself these three words. 115 00:13:40,633 --> 00:13:45,099 He finally gave in, not me. 116 00:13:45,100 --> 00:13:47,432 I received a letter, from the deanship. 117 00:13:47,433 --> 00:13:55,466 To study for one semester and when I completed this semester, all the exams, I could continue. 118 00:13:55,467 --> 00:14:06,899 That went well until the fourth semester. the preliminary medical examination, I was summoned to the deanship: "We can't find your abitur [high school exam] certificate." 119 00:14:06,900 --> 00:14:10,699 I explained to them that I don't have one. 120 00:14:10,700 --> 00:14:16,632 what to do? Discontinue. One cannot take the preliminary medical exam without the certificate. 121 00:14:16,633 --> 00:14:19,632 I said, "But is there no way? theoretically?" 122 00:14:19,633 --> 00:14:32,266 "Yes, when you write a petition to the culture minister and he allows you to take an external abitur exam, but that is purely theoretical. 123 00:14:32,267 --> 00:14:34,399 I said: "for me it isn't theoretical." 124 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:44,232 So I did it, I took the written exam in the upper school, Humboldt School Hannover in October 1948. 125 00:14:44,233 --> 00:14:55,532 After that was accepted, I passed, after a week after a week, I was examined in eight courses on a single day. 126 00:14:55,533 --> 00:15:00,766 And I received my certificate, I was a normal student. 127 00:15:00,767 --> 00:15:15,132 Then took the preliminary medical exam,. I have to say here that unfortunately, due to my marriage to a Berliner woman, that this didn't please the Jewish community. 128 00:15:15,133 --> 00:15:17,266 That had supported me until then. 129 00:15:17,267 --> 00:15:26,732 I had a little help from my oldest sister, the supervisor of a Jewish orphanage in Ochtmissen, near Lüneburg. 130 00:15:26,733 --> 00:15:28,932 As of November 1945. 131 00:15:28,933 --> 00:15:34,832 Sometimes I went there, once a week, on the weekend and ate till I was full. 132 00:15:34,833 --> 00:15:43,266 But then after the marriage and in January 1948 our son was born, the oldest, Michael. 133 00:15:43,267 --> 00:15:52,666 I didn't have any money, I went to the Polish consulate and said "I want to travel to my native country, land of my birth, back to Poland." 134 00:15:52,667 --> 00:16:01,032 They said, "Dear friend, we need doctors in Poland, stay here, complete our studies and then go." 135 00:16:01,033 --> 00:16:06,899 I received a fellowship of 250 DM a month. 136 00:16:06,900 --> 00:16:11,632 That was enough to support ourselves and our friends from the FDJ group. 137 00:16:11,633 --> 00:16:17,899 I was organizational head of the FDJ in Göttingen, the medical faculty. 138 00:16:17,900 --> 00:16:35,766 Back then in Lüneberg I met the secretary of the German Communist Party, which was illegal at the time, and the utopia appealed to me - equality and all these lovely words in theory. 139 00:16:35,767 --> 00:16:40,366 So that went well until 1950. 140 00:16:40,367 --> 00:16:50,032 In 1950 the consulate was closed because of the Korean War. I went back to Poland in November 1950. 141 00:16:50,033 --> 00:16:53,332 IV: Can I interrupt briefly for a question? 142 00:16:53,333 --> 00:16:53,999 LW: Yes. 143 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:55,432 IV: Before we continue. 144 00:16:55,433 --> 00:16:57,299 LW: Smell -- the hay. 145 00:16:57,300 --> 00:17:01,666 IV: Yes, they must have just mowed to lawn or something. 146 00:17:01,667 --> 00:17:03,833 LW: Thank you. 147 00:17:11,533 --> 00:17:12,232 CM: Running. 148 00:17:12,233 --> 00:17:15,232 LW: I arrived in Warsaw. 149 00:17:15,233 --> 00:17:23,499 IV: I wanted to ask, you found your sisters again, which was very nice. What happened to your mother? 150 00:17:23,500 --> 00:17:33,232 LW: My sisters said that when they arrived, in front to Mengele or some other - 151 00:17:33,233 --> 00:17:40,466 I still have the image, my mother looked very young, dark blue outfit, white blouse. 152 00:17:40,467 --> 00:17:42,932 Had a little rouge on her cheeks. 153 00:17:42,933 --> 00:17:48,799 But my aunt was ten years older, past 60. 154 00:17:48,800 --> 00:18:03,966 And at the selection, when they sent Aunt Ewa to the right, to those condemned to death, she held on to my mother's hand desperately and dragged her along. 155 00:18:03,967 --> 00:18:11,132 My sister said she asked how old she is, and even said "madam", a deception. 156 00:18:11,133 --> 00:18:15,932 She told me she said "forty-five." 157 00:18:15,933 --> 00:18:21,732 But he had already sent my aunt to the right and didn't call her back. 158 00:18:21,733 --> 00:18:29,666 All three of my sisters were sent to the labor camp, to Mühlhausen, and survived. 159 00:18:29,667 --> 00:18:34,899 It was terrible for them in Bergen-Belsen, everyone was so close to death. 160 00:18:34,900 --> 00:18:44,666 IV: And when you were reunited, did you not think to go back to Lodz, or to your home? 161 00:18:44,667 --> 00:18:50,632 How did you come to decide to stay in Germany, suddenly "I am staying in Germany, I am going to study here." 162 00:18:50,633 --> 00:18:52,299 You married a German woman? 163 00:18:52,300 --> 00:18:58,566 LW: Simply because my older sister was already anchored in Lüneburg. 164 00:18:58,567 --> 00:19:08,599 Had taken over the management of a Jewish orphanage and my other two sisters were with her, worked there too. 165 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,666 So why should I leave them? 166 00:19:11,667 --> 00:19:14,399 We were here, I stayed here. 167 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,932 And then I had the idea, since I am here I want to do something with my life. 168 00:19:17,933 --> 00:19:21,266 Black market, trade, that wasn't my thing. 169 00:19:21,267 --> 00:19:23,766 I wanted to study, to learn. 170 00:19:23,767 --> 00:19:38,532 And then I contacted this cultural attaché and then I went to Göttingen to study. I didn't want to waste the time. 171 00:19:38,533 --> 00:19:50,066 And since I had a connection in Germany, through my sisters, who were working in Lüneberg, I didn't want to leave. 172 00:19:50,067 --> 00:19:58,699 IV: For all four of you, wasn't it - Germany was the country of the perpetrators, the ones who had caused you all this suffering. 173 00:19:58,700 --> 00:20:00,932 Didn't that bother you? 174 00:20:00,933 --> 00:20:06,932 LW: We were living in the now {clears throat}. In the present. 175 00:20:06,933 --> 00:20:11,499 My sisters did immigrate, all three of them, to Israel. 176 00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:20,232 And two of them went from there to America and one is in the kibbuz because of her social views, and stayed in the kibbuz. 177 00:20:20,233 --> 00:20:24,032 Until her death six years ago. 178 00:20:24,033 --> 00:20:30,199 I went to Warsaw, was repatriated, repatriacja, homeland. 179 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:40,532 Continued my studies, acquired my medical diploma in 1953, first worked in the women's clinic in Warsaw as an assistant. 180 00:20:40,533 --> 00:20:50,832 Then my dissertation in 1966, defended it and applied the same year. 181 00:20:50,833 --> 00:21:05,999 Senior physician in a women's clinic, women's ward, maternity ward, more than 60 beds, in a small town, Otwock, in a spa town for pulmonary patients, just 17 km from Warsaw. 182 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,732 The three happiest years of my life. 183 00:21:08,733 --> 00:21:15,766 where I could continue my research and avoid all the mistakes of my supervisors. 184 00:21:15,767 --> 00:21:24,366 Treat my staff as real colleagues, co-workers, not as subordinates, I was never a boss in the real sense. 185 00:21:24,367 --> 00:21:36,532 And had a lot of success in work, was at a convention in Lodz in 1968, in summer, in June. 186 00:21:36,533 --> 00:21:48,399 Endocrinology convention, where the health minister congratulated me that I had succeeded in conducting so much research in a small hospital. 187 00:21:48,400 --> 00:22:01,499 And promised to give me more assistants, more people, because they were doing so much work, so that they can work more effectively. 188 00:22:01,500 --> 00:22:10,832 Returned home from the convention, to the hospital, after a few days. 189 00:22:10,833 --> 00:22:18,599 A truck pulled up, a man came to me with a piece of paper from the war health office. 190 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:24,332 It is forbidden, forbidden, forbiden to conduct research. 191 00:22:24,333 --> 00:22:32,266 X-ray examinations of the women's abdominal area, a routine examination. To find tuberculosis. 192 00:22:32,267 --> 00:22:40,599 And no research and to hand over all the patient histories in my division since I took over. 193 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,266 They took them all. 194 00:22:43,267 --> 00:22:48,032 Then I had my file at home, "my struggle." 195 00:22:48,033 --> 00:22:56,966 I wrote protest letters to the ministry for months, but it didn't help. 196 00:22:56,967 --> 00:23:08,699 In February 1969, a meeting of the Party, the district and I was removed from my position, dismissed. 197 00:23:08,700 --> 00:23:16,199 Someone had denounced me, that I was doing experiments on Polish women. 198 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:28,532 That was the pretext, it was 1968, ordered from above, didn't come from the people, wave of antisemitism. 199 00:23:28,533 --> 00:23:35,432 And that is when the last surviving Jews left Poland. 200 00:23:35,433 --> 00:23:37,532 That was a new exodus. 201 00:23:37,533 --> 00:23:44,299 Since I had three sons with my first wife. 202 00:23:44,300 --> 00:23:56,666 And I thought I had paid my blood toll for many generations to come, so I didn't go to Israel, which was the basic condition. 203 00:23:56,667 --> 00:23:58,732 We were only allowed to immigrate to Israel. 204 00:23:58,733 --> 00:24:05,666 Received papers that we were only allowed to cross the border in one direction. 205 00:24:05,667 --> 00:24:12,699 No passport, just a permit that the holder of the permit was allowed to cross the border to the west. 206 00:24:12,700 --> 00:24:20,499 And I picked out the country in advance, Sweden, a neutral country. 207 00:24:20,500 --> 00:24:26,932 And everything was arranged with the embassy, with a residence permit, work permit. 208 00:24:26,933 --> 00:24:36,599 And I was a fully-trained specialist doctor with a Ph.D. title Dr. med. 209 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:41,966 I was very desirable for them, they needed doctors at this time. 210 00:24:41,967 --> 00:24:52,466 Even took all my documents with me, could send them with a courier, because we were stuck in the train station in Warsaw for three days. 211 00:24:52,467 --> 00:25:00,566 They took every book, all the literature, "my struggle", Jewish literature, took everything away, didn't let it through. 212 00:25:00,567 --> 00:25:10,032 All the substandard films that I had made, 8 mm film of my family, family visits. looked at everything. 213 00:25:10,033 --> 00:25:18,966 That took hours, checked everything, until I sent the container with our furniture, a few things, clothing to Sweden. 214 00:25:18,967 --> 00:25:28,799 And then we departed, through Germany, I first paid a visit to our in-laws in Weidenhausen, district of Biedekopf for a few days. 215 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:33,999 We traveled by car, I even had my own car by then, a Volvo. 216 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:38,099 Drove by car, took our hand luggage with us. 217 00:25:38,100 --> 00:25:53,299 One son stayed there, because he had married in June 1969, the father-in-law of my son was seriously ill and the daughter-in-law, Katarina, didn't want to leave her father. 218 00:25:53,300 --> 00:25:56,866 They joined us two years later, 1971. 219 00:25:56,867 --> 00:26:13,199 So I arrived in Sweden and during the time in Poland, it had been 16 years after all, or 19 years, my wife came later with Michael, in April 1951. 220 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:18,266 She was a very talented translator. 221 00:26:18,267 --> 00:26:26,466 Her translations of Janusz Korczak, the doctor in the Warsaw Ghetto, who went with the children to Treblinka. 222 00:26:26,467 --> 00:26:30,166 He ran an orphanage, a pediatrician. 223 00:26:30,167 --> 00:26:44,099 She translated his books and these translations were the basis for giving Janusz Korczak the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade posthumously in 1972. 224 00:26:44,100 --> 00:26:47,032 On the basis of Katja Weintraub's translations. 225 00:26:47,033 --> 00:26:53,899 I resumed my work as a gynecologist in Stockholm. 226 00:26:53,900 --> 00:26:58,366 The first year in the unfamiliar north, in Luleå. 227 00:26:58,367 --> 00:27:02,432 On the same level as the Polar Circle, terrible time. 228 00:27:02,433 --> 00:27:11,332 I arrived on January 1, it was dark, a bit gray, around 11 and a little gray, then it turned dark. 229 00:27:11,333 --> 00:27:20,199 In May it got light, the sun didn't set, but then I got a position in Stockholm and went back. 230 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:31,332 And my wife died tragically. in an accident, in 1970. 231 00:27:31,333 --> 00:27:35,999 On the second day of Christmas, December 27. 232 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:43,466 Six years later I married Eva-Maria. She is also from Germany, a German woman. 233 00:27:43,467 --> 00:27:53,066 And our family is also an example of the 20th century, one could say. 234 00:27:53,067 --> 00:28:06,566 My oldest son left Sweden for Germany and was a champion of the Polish language in Germany. 235 00:28:06,567 --> 00:28:14,832 Helped organize various groups of Polish immigrants in Germany. 236 00:28:14,833 --> 00:28:26,699 Data established an Intranet, was elected secretary, the Parapluie, umbrella organization for Poles in Germany. 237 00:28:26,700 --> 00:28:32,632 Then a few reactionaries in Poland started looking at his fly. 238 00:28:32,633 --> 00:28:37,432 That he was a Jew, Jewish from my side. 239 00:28:37,433 --> 00:28:39,366 Although it isn't true. 240 00:28:39,367 --> 00:28:44,232 And he told them to go sit on a tack. 241 00:28:44,233 --> 00:28:48,432 But he was nonetheless very active during this time. 242 00:28:48,433 --> 00:29:01,132 Eva-Maria had been working in peace research SIPRI, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute since 1981. 243 00:29:01,133 --> 00:29:05,499 Until last year, when she withdrew. 244 00:29:05,500 --> 00:29:08,866 Had a lot of positive accomplishments. 245 00:29:08,867 --> 00:29:15,699 Our daughter attended the German school in Stockholm from Kindergarden through high school. 246 00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:32,432 And for my activities in building bridges, as the ambassodor called it, I received the German Federal Cross of Merit, in July 2004.. 247 00:29:32,433 --> 00:29:52,732 For my activities in German schools and my lectures about the Holocaust, I received the Federal Cross of Merit. 248 00:29:52,733 --> 00:30:02,566 And this is the pin, the menora from the Jewish Community of Stockholm, for meritorial service for the Jewish population in Sweden. 249 00:30:02,567 --> 00:30:07,232 Even though I am not a member of the congregation. 250 00:30:07,233 --> 00:30:17,332 I am not really a member in any organization, I help many, but I don't want a number, no more membership numbers. 251 00:30:17,333 --> 00:30:20,732 I was already a number once in my life. That is enough. 252 00:30:20,733 --> 00:30:27,199 I do a lot voluntarily, but I choose who I want to help and how. 253 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:35,799 Not through a membership and certain obligations or duties. 254 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:43,999 I reached the age of 83 and can consider myself lucky. 255 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:53,832 I have maintained so much health and strength that I am able to be here today and tell you all of this. 256 00:30:53,833 --> 00:30:57,132 I have maintained a few interests. 257 00:30:57,133 --> 00:31:09,699 Ever since September 1945 when my sisters told me "too bad youi didn't come in July, we had a visit from London, Benjamin Britten and Yehudi Menuhin." 258 00:31:09,700 --> 00:31:13,799 A seed was planted in my brain, for music. 259 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:29,699 I put it on the internet three years ago, a homage to the composition and its creator, Beethoven's violin concert D major, Opus 61. 260 00:31:29,700 --> 00:31:37,099 I have had this passion, a deep love, all my life. 261 00:31:37,100 --> 00:31:47,399 I have 87 copies played by different virtuosos at home and that gives me a lot of satisfaction. 262 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:57,199 And a year ago, in August 2008, I dedicated a memorial site for my relatives on my mother's side. 263 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:02,266 in the small town in Poland, it took me five years of work and effort. 264 00:32:02,267 --> 00:32:07,632 But I am as proud of that as I am of my dissertation. 265 00:32:07,633 --> 00:32:12,799 And when our daughter got married I advised her: 266 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:19,799 She has a natural talent. Don't keep it for yourself. Share it. 267 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:31,432 Because my mother advised me, not that I should become rich, but to always have enough to give. 268 00:32:31,433 --> 00:32:37,732 IV: That is good advice. A good conclusion. I would like to ask one more thing. 269 00:32:37,733 --> 00:32:39,432 CM: Wait. We need a new cassette. 270 00:32:39,433 --> 00:32:41,467 IV: Okay.