-
Met his wife Anja Zylberberg
He was introduced to Anja by his cousin and they hit it off quickly. -
Vladek's Old Girlfriend sent a Letter to Anja
His clingy ex-girlfriend sent a letter to Anja telling her that Vladek was only marrying her for her money trying to separate them. -
Moved to Sosnowiec
Vladeck moved to Sosnowiec in order to live with Anja. -
Married Anja
He married the woman that he loved. -
Found out that Anja was involved in Communist Consprations
After she almost was caught with communist papers and her seamstress was caught with them, Vladek makes her promise to not do anything that would put her in danger, like she just did, again. -
First Time Seeing the Swastika
Vladek and Anja's family saw the Swastika from the train window when bringing Anja to a sanitarium. -
Anja Returned
She returned to Sosnowiec healthier than when she left. -
Drafted!
Drafted to go fight as part of the Polish army against the Germans. He was separated from Anja at this time. He was drafted for an army which wasn't even his. -
Period: to
World War II
In a state of "total war", the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust -
Captured by the Germans
Vladek was taken as a prisoner of war in his first battle. -
Volunteered for Work
Germans requested war prisoners to do manual labour in exchange for better living conditions. -
Released!
Released from being a prisoner of war. Many who ended up being released were killed immediately after because there was no law prohibiting the killing of Jews but there was a law that prohibited the killing of Polish war prisoners. -
Escaped back to his Family
He pretended to be Polish in order to get on a train back to Sosnowiec and was reunited with his family. -
-
Period: to
Worked in a tinsmith shop
In the shop Vladek learned usefull things for the time he will spend in Auschwitz. -
Registered at the Dienst Stadium
The Jews were seperated between a bad side and a good side and those on the good side were allowed to stay in Sosnowiec, the others were never seen again. -
Worked in a Shoe Shop for Haskel
Here he learned a usefull skill for living in Auschwitz. -
Period: to
Hiding from the Germans
Going bunker to bunker trying to not be caught by the Germans. -
Entered Auschwitz
He was numbered 175113. This marked him as extremely lucky because it starts with 17 "K'minyan Tov". Ends with 13, the day a Jewish boy becomes a man, and added together equals 18, "chai" the Hebrew number of life. -
Taught English in Quarintine
Was treated extremely well when teaching english because he could teach it well. He was given a ton of good food and clothes that fit him. He was able to help out Mandelbaum, his friend, who had very loose fitting clothes by giving him a belt and some fitting shoes as well as a spoon for him to eat soup with. -
Started Working for a Tin Shop
Started working for a tin shop which repairs roofs in the camps whose chief was a Jewish communist named Yidl. -
Recieves a Letter from Anja
Mancie, a Hungarian, helps Anja and Vladek keep in contact with eachother by bringing letters and food to the other. -
Period: to
Repairing roofs in Birkenau
Went to Birkenau as part of the group whose job was to repair the roofs of the camps. Vladek was able to meet Anja at that time while he was working. -
Worked in a Shoe Shop
Starts working as a shoemaker to repair the leather shoes of the officials. This job gave him much more food than he usually got and food of a better quality. He was also able to help Anja out by reparing the shoes of the kapo in charge of her barracks. Anja was treated very well during that time. -
Heard of the horrors of the gas chambers
He hears from one of the people who was working in the gas chambers the horros of that place: "Big piles, with the strongest on top, older ones and babies crushed below... often the skulls were smashed"(71). -
Evacuation of Auschwitz
Bombs from the front, 25 miles away, were heard in the camps and the Germans evacuated Auschwitz. The Jews were forced to march and shot if they slowed down and they were then stuffed into train cars for a long time. -
Infection
Vladek stabbed himself in the hand so that he would go to the infermary where he was treated better. -
Typhus!
Vladek caught Typhus from the lice infecting the area around the train cars. -
The War is Over
World War II ended. The prisoners were taken out of the trains and were abondond by a lakeside. Vladek hid from the Polish and Germans till encountering the Gremans. -
Reunited with Anja
Vladek missed his train and walked to Poland, where Anja lived, for 3 to 4 weeks.
