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| In Buchenwald, almost the entire inmate population was set to work. Therefore, later, in January 1945, 21 listed upon arrival boys (left list dated December 4th, 1944, see above) were separated from their fathers and sent to Bergen-Belsen (right list dated January 5th, 1945). The age and the German inmate number of 21 boys is listed in the document on the left. |
When in Buchenwald the boys were first allowed to stay with their fathers and relatives. So during the Chanukah, Sun, Dec 10 Mon - Dec 18. 1944 they were in Buchenwald. However, in Buchenwald, almost the entire inmate population was set to work. Therefore, later, in January 1945, 21 listed upon arrival boys (left list dated December 4th, 1944, see above) were separated from their fathers and sent to Bergen-Belsen (right list dated January 5th, 1945).
Family Rosenblatt was also torn apart in the same way. At an unknown railway station on December 2nd, 1944, the train from Piotrków Trybunalski was divided, and two sets of wagons that were sent in different directions. Rozenblatt Moszek born 1903 and his son Jozef (Jasio) born 1931 went to concentration camp Buchenwald. Rosenblatt Ryszard born 1936 and his mother Bina Malka went to Ravensbrück.
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| Family Zajaczkowski was divided during the December deportation from Piotrków. Father in the family, Chaim (94946) was sent together with his son Lolek (94947) to Buchenwald while the mother in the family, Maria, was sent to Ravensbrück together with daughter Lusia. Chaim Zajaczkowskis probably brother. Jozef was also sent to Buchenwald in the same transport and was executed there. |
Arrival of the boys from Piotrków Trybunalski - January 1945
Boys that arrived in Kinderheim and were originally from Piotrków Trybunalski were earlier, on December 2, 1944, sent together with their fathers or other male relatives sent in cattle wagons from the Piotrków to Buchenwald. Later, in Buchenwald after approximately one month, they were separated from their relatives and sent to Bergen-Belsen. Lists of boys that arrived with the transport of men that arrived to concentration camp Buchenwald on December 2, 1944 show that the youngest boy was two and half years old (Henechowicz Jidele). The list of 21 boys that were thereafter sent on January 5, 1945, from Buchenwald to concentration camp Bergen-Belsen includes 21 persons that are listed according to the age and after their prisoner number that was given at the registration in KL Buchenwald. On the list on the right, the prisoner numbers are followed by the surnames. The distance between KL Buchenwald and KL Bergen-Belsen was about 280 km. It is known that this boy's transport was by ordinary train and the boys were escorted by German soldiers.
Arrival of the girls and woman from Piotrków Trybunalski - February 1945
It is exactly known when boys from Piotrków Trybunalski arrived at Kinderheim. There is no precise date of the arrival of the woman with children who were previously deported from the Ravensbrück concentration camp. According to testimonies, it might be a question of "few weeks" so it is likely that this group arrived at the end of late January or the beginning of February 1945.
Mala Helfgot, one of the girls remembered; After about two and a half months there (in Ravensbrück), we were again put into cattle trucks to travel to another concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen, where we found total chaos. There was terrible overcrowding, sanitation in the form of open pits, and hardly any food. People walked around like zombies and looked like skeletons; there were piles of corpses and dead bodies lying around everywhere. Typhus was rife and there was an air of utter hopelessness. The degradation, humiliation, and despair were clearly visible on people’s faces. You could be speaking to someone and she would literally drop dead in front of you. Hania (Helfgot Hanna, cousin of Mala) and I managed to search out a children’s barrack which was run by Sister Luba and a team of Jewish ‘nurses’, themselves inmates, who were very kind and devoted. I know that they used to beg, steal, and do everything in their power to obtain a little extra food for the children. They also gave us loving care. The barack was situated opposite a large hut with a pile of corpses.
So it is likely that after deportation from Piotrków on December 2, 1944, and after about 10 weeks in Ravensbrück the women and children were further transported in cattle trucks to Bergen-Belsen. According to numerous testimonies, the first night, in February they spent in tents. Likely, the same type of tents were later used for the storage of the dead inmates.
My Very Own Jewish Calendar means that every month I am trying to remember what happened during this month during the Holocaust.
