Klein-Smith, Edyta (Oral history)

Polish Jewish civilian child in Warsaw Ghetto, Poland, 11/1940-3/1943; escaped from Warsaw Ghetto, 3/1943; lived under false identity in Warsaw, Poland, 3/1943-8/1944; inmate of Pruszkow Concentration Camp, Poland, 8/1944-1/1945

REEL 1 Recollections of background in Warsaw, Poland, 1929-1939: family circumstances; non-religious attitude of family; awareness of Jewish identity; Polish antisemitism; education; further information on family circumstances. Recollections of German occupation of Poland, 9/1939-12/1940: memories of outbreak of war, 1/9/1939; effect of German Air Force bombings of Warsaw; story of how her dog was taken away and cared for by local butcher during Second World War; extended family situation; treatment of Grandfather by German troops; treatment of Jews by German authorities; story of how apartment had been denuded of possessions; question of importance of speaking Polish and having Aryan appearance; fate of stepfather. REEL 2 Continues: death of uncle in Treblinka, 1942. Recollections of period as inmate in Warsaw Ghetto, Poland, 11/1940-3/1943: accommodation; continuing education illegally; deaths and typhus; beginning of re-settlements, 7/1942; how her mother would hide her in Toebbens workshop during daytime; dread of selections; hearing stories of people who returned from Treblinka; how parents were persuaded to give up their hidden children; hiding to avoid deportation; declining state of health; infestation of rats in rooms; decision and preparations to escape from ghetto; obtaining papers legally from Gestapo. REEL 3 Continues: hiding places constructed by ghetto inmates; incident of mother who killed her baby in order to silence it; narrow escape from round up in street. Recollections of period living on false papers in Warsaw, Poland, 3/1943-8/1944: sight of burning ghetto after their escape; hiding places; blackmail attempts by Polish civilians; importance of maintaining looks and use of appearance to advantage in finding accommodation; meeting with Jewish man in hiding and his disappearance; narrow escape from Polish newspaper boy attempts to denounce her. REEL 4 Continues: story of how Klein-Smith and her mother found self-contained room until Warsaw Uprising, 8/1944; involvement with underground groups; question of wisdom of Warsaw Uprising and Russian's ability to enter city; story of loss of boyfriend during Uprising; narrow escape from sniper. Recollections of period as inmate in Pruszkow Concentration Camp, 9/8/1944-18/1/1945: reception in camp; how they were saved from entering the camp by Red Cross; gaining protection from Polish women Kielbasinska, who worked for Gestapo in hospital; story of how Klein- Smith's mother testified on behalf of Kielbasinska after the war; staying in Pruszkow area after Germans departed; liberation by Russians, 18/1/1945. Recollections of period in Poland, 1945: situation on move to Warsaw; return to countryside; second return to Warsaw. REEL 5 Continues: Recollections of period as displaced person in Czechoslovakia and Germany, 1945-1947: journey across Czech border in bogus Red Cross vehicle; arrival on outskirts of Prague; aid from Czechoslovakian civilian to get to German border; move into displaced camp in Munich; mother's role with UNRRA; applying for visa to US. Recollections of period living in US from 1947: marriage and life in New York; death of first husband on visit to Germany; living conditions and marriage to second husband. Aspects of experiences in Warsaw, 1939-1945: reasons for not talking about her experiences; special relationship with her mother; question of wartime knowledge of Final Solution; story of offer made to save them in 1942. REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of being Holocaust survivor in US and visits to Poland, 1947-1990's: story of how she was tricked out of compensation by lawyer, 1951; reasons why survivors started talking about Holocaust in 1970s; attitude of US Jews towards Holocaust survivors; how Holocaust survivors rebuilt their lives in US without outside help; question of Jewish identity and importance of Israel; attitude to Poland and how her mother could never return; state of Jewish cemetery in Warsaw; story of visit to Jewish cemetery in immediate post war period.