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The Birth Of Mendel Reichberg
Mendel Reichberg was born on October 7, 1922 and lived in Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel on 1 Szewska St. He grew up into a Jewish family. -
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Mendel's Life under Nazi Rule
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Start Of World War II
Mendel Reicherg was merely 16 years old when the war started. Him and his family trierd to flee to the city of Tarnow from Bochnia. They tried to escape the Germans, but ended up coming back. -
The Murder at the Market
One day in 1939, Mendel witnessed a hanging at the nearby market. The reason for the hanging, was that at one of the houses on the street a nazi was murdered by Jewish imposters that wore traditional jewish clothing. The killers then ran away and were found in basement then hung. This was the last straw and led to the planning of many jewish deaths in Bochnia. -
The Planning
After the hanging, the Nazis planned to gather the Bochnia population and kill every tenth person as a group punishment. However they went back on thier word took fifty people form the jail and to Bochnia locals then excuted them in the nearby forest. Mendel and other teenagers were forced to dig graves and bury the bodies. -
Life in the Ghetto
(This is an approximate date) In 1940 or 1941 Mendel and his family were forced to live in the ghetto established by the Nazis. About 3,500 people lived in the few streets that made up the ghetto. Lack of housing made many families and others to live together in the same room or home. Which was Mendel's situation. He had to chop wood everday from 6 AM to when he was told to stop, his pay was bread for his family. Mendel was no longer chopping wood after 1942. -
Kasserna
(Mendel doesn't reacall the exact date) In the ghetto there was an ammunition storage.Mendel's brother used to work with the ammunition storage.One night,the Nazis took them and seperated the people they brought from other places when they arrived. The people from different cities and little towns from Krakow they kept. Everybody from the ghetto had to to go down to Kasserna,if not the people who didn't go were looked for and killed.Mendel was one of the people to collect the victims and bury. -
After the First Aktion
(Not exact date) After the first aktion Mendel and others began working in highway construction and later on they were installing telephone lines. He was taken in the mornings and was brought back at night to the ghetto. -
Ghetto Liquidated
(Not exact date)The ghetto was liquidated and Mendel was taken to the Plaszow concentration camp. Many of the people were taken to Szebnie who were from Bochnia, but not Mendel. In Plaszow he worked in producing shoes and other work labors. He stayed there until 1945, but was transfered to Auschwitz. where he stayed there for a couple of days. Mendel was forced to participate in the Death March. -
Mendal was finally liberated
(not exact date) Mendel was liberated when Germany lost the war. He survived the Holocaust!
