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Anja
in 1935 Vladek met Anja -
Marriage
Anja and Vladek got married in 1937 -
Family
Richieu was born in october, and soon after Anja got very depressed. She may have had post pardom depression, but had depression issues in the past as well. -
Hospital
For a few months Anja and Vladek live in a hospital to help Anja with her depression. On the way there they saw the Nazi flags and towns being taken over by the Nazi's from the train window. -
the begining
Vladek is drafted to the war, and is in training until september 1.
Anja and Richieu go to Sosnowiec. -
War
The war started and Vladek was vey hesitant to join in the battle. He shoots a man named Jan dressed as a tree but is captured by the Nazi. He had to hand over all his belongings, and he had 300 zlotys with him. He had to work in a stable and was taken to a war camp. -
War
Vladek fallows his instincts and volunteers at a German Company. He worked in the land with other man; they had to move mountains to make the land flat. -
Nazi
As Vladek is walking by the a train station he comes across the Nazi's beating or shooting any Jew they see. -
Reunion
Vladek is released from the German camp on the day Parshas Truma. He is taken to Lublin to another camp. His uncle's friend Orbach saves him from the camp, and he goes home to see his parents and family. -
Moving
Vladek and his family got a letter saying that all the Jews of Sosnowiec need to relocate into Stara Sosnowiec quarter by Jan. 1. 12 people moved into a home with 2 and a half small rooms. 4 men were hung for dealing goods without coupons. They stayed hung up on Modrzejowska St. for a week as a threat to the Jews. -
70 and over
All the Jews 70 and over will be transfered to Theresjenstadt in Czechoslovakia. Anja's grandparents would have to go, but they hid out of a month and then were taken or else the whole family would have had to. -
Left or Right
Everyone must register at the Dienst stadium. There were 25-30,000 people there. People were sent to either the right or the left. The right was the good side to be sent to, and the left side were all send to the camps. All of Vladek's family went to the left along with 10,000 other people. -
Moving
All the Jews left in Sosnowiec must go and live in an old village nearby called Srodula. Jews had to pay to move the poles into their houses. Vladek and the family lived in a cottage with even smaller space than before. They had to march an hour and a half to Sosnowiec where they worked in German shops everyday. -
Richieu
Richieu, along with two other children, were sent to live with a woman who could keep them safe. In the spring the Nazi's began to grab children and beat them to death. They then took 1,000 people to Auschwitz, most of them being children. When the woman heard about what was going on, she poisoned Richieu, herself, and the two other children. -
Attic
The Nazis took 10,000 Jews from their Ghetto, but Vladek and the family hid in an Attic. When they were found, they were taken to a building in a part of Srodula separated by wires and had to wait with 200 other people. Vladek's cousin helped him and Anja escape, but could not help Anja's parents.
In the end of 1943 most Jews from Srodula were sent to Auschwitz. -
Governess
Anja and Vladek went towards Sosnowiec. Richieu's old polish governess ,Janina, did not help them and did not let them stay with her. They went to stay with Mr. Lukowski, a janitor of one of Anja's fathers old houses.
They ended up staying with Motonowa and her 7 year old son. -
Auschwitz
They decided to go to Hungary, because they heard it was better there. They got on a train in Katowice with smugglers but they dissapeared when the train was at Biesko-Biala. The smugglers told the Gestapo and they were captured and sent to a prison in Biesko. In a truck with 100 other prisoners they were taken to Oswiecin, and put in Auschwitz. -
In Auschwitz
The men were seperated from the women. Vladeks number was 175113. a priest told him that 18, the total of his numbers, is the number for Chai in hebrew, which means life.
Vladek tutored a block supervisor enligh, who saved him and gave him food. -
In Aushwitz
The spring of 1944 in Aushwitz Vladek worked as a tinman. Between May 16 and May 24, 1944 100,000 Jews were gassed in Aushwitz. -
Auschwitz II
Anja was put in Auschwitz II, Birkenau. It was 2 miles from Auschwitz. Auschwitz had 20,000 people and Birkenau had 5 times as many people. They put 800 people in a building made for 50 horses. -
Mancie
Mancie was a hungarian who had a good position in the camps due to her lover, an S.S. man. She would deliver letters to and from Anja and Vladek even though it was very dangerous for her to do so. -
Shoes
Became a shoe repair for the guards and was repaid in food. -
Women in Auschwitz
In the start of October a few thousand women were put in barracks in Auschwitz, and Vladek saved enough food to pay for a room for Anja. -
Black Work
Vladek worked black work, carrying back and forth big stones, and digging out holes. If you stopped then the dogs attacked you or you were shot. -
Gas Chambers
The germans were scared of the Russians getting closer so they had the prisoners take apart the machinerie in the gas chambers. It took 3 to 30 minutes to kill the prisoners in each chamber, depending how much gas they put in. the gas was Zyklon B, a pesticide. They then would put the bodies in elebators up to the ovens. Some prisoners were pushed in a hole with dead bodies, the guards would pour the fat from burning bodies on them and light them the dead and alive on fire. -
Leaving
Vladek and the remaining prisoners left Auschwitz leaving any personal belongings they managed to keep behind. The prisoners were marched to Gross-Rosen, and anyone who fell behind or got tired was shot. He and everyone else was put on a train, only 25 of the 200 survived on the train. The trains were stopped and remained stopped for weeks, only being opened to collect the dead. They were being taken to Dachau. -
Lice
In Dachau, the prisoners were put in barracks filled with straw. In the straw there was lice, and the lice had Typhus. If there was any lice on your cloths you didnt get food. Vladek got an infection in his hand, and ge was taken to the infirmary. He kept making the infection worse so he could stay in the infirmary longer. Then Vladek got Typhus, and many people died each night of this, so on the way to the bathroom he had to walk on dead slippery bodies. -
Swiss Border
Vladek got better, and anyone strong enough to travel would be sent to the Swiss border to be exchanged as war prisoners. They were put on a real train for people. The train never got to the Swiss Border. They were taken off the train being marched, and stopped standing for hours. Then the prisoners were put on a freight train to be taken to the Americans. -
Americans
When the train stopped the Americans were not there, but the Germans were. There were 150-200 prisoners and they were all by a lake. Then they were taken to a barn. Eventually the patrols were gone, and the prisoners were free. Shivek and Vladek hid in a barn, and soon the Americans came. The Americans payed them in food to clean up after them. -
Displaced persons camp
All the refugees everywhere went to Garmisch-Partenkirchen: a displaced refugee camp. Vladek had a relapse of Typhus. Vladek went with Shivek to Hannover.
Vladek then walked for 3 or 4 weeks to Sosnowiec to be with Anja.
