Szapszewicz, Maria (Oral history)

Polish Jewish inmate of Lodz and Szydlowice Ghettos, 1940-1944; inmate of Strarachowice, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen camps, 1944-1945

REEL 1 Recollections of background in Lodz, Poland, 1922-1939: family circumstances; religious character of family; incidents of antisemitism; memories of brothers. Recollections of German occupation of Lodz, 1939: destruction of synagogue and burning of books; reaction to witnessing her dog being shot; issue of Star of David; German changing of city's name. Aspects of period as in Lodz Ghetto, 1940: establishment of ghetto; move into ghetto; living conditions; escape from ghetto to Szydlowice. Recollections of period as inmate in Szydlowice Ghetto, 1940- 1943: living conditions. REEL 2 Continues: crowded conditions; story of her uncle, a doctor who set up a clinic in ghetto; typhus epidemic and effects of typhus; uncle's treating of non-Jews outside ghetto; sealing of ghetto; selection and shooting of father. Recollections of period as inmate in Starachowice, 1943-1944: arrival in camp; obtaining work in Herman Goering Works; character of work and shift system; aid from Polish workers; move into fenced camp. REEL 3 Continues: story of infection in finger; mother's contracting typhus; forced labour digging ditches; massacre of escaped Jews; husband's experiences. Recollections of period as inmate of Auschwitz, 1944-1945: character of train journey to camp; selection on arrival at camp; reaction when showers when they did not contain gas; prior knowledge of gassings; shaving and tattooing; reaction to odour of burning flesh from chimneys; fate of Jewish and Gypsy children encamped together; status of German homosexual inmates; clothing issued; lack of lice infestations; food situation; effects of starvation. Recollections of period as inmate in Bergen-Belsen, 3/1945-4/1945: move to camp. REEL 4 Continues: cramped conditions in barracks; lack of food; obtaining soup from kitchen; stealing food from German storeroom; problems of obtaining water; inability of inmates to remove bodies from their proximity during typhus epidemic; effects of lack of food; how women would support each other in sitting positions; deaths in barracks; mother's sinking into coma; effects of bodily weakness. Recollections of liberation of Bergen-Belsen by British troops, 4/1945: growing awareness of camps' liberation; reaction of inmates to liberation; inmates who crawled out of barracks to die in the sun; reaction of British troops to sights in camp; how she could remove her teeth from her gums. REEL 5 Continues: incidents of inmates dying from over-eating; importance of gelatine in digestive recovery; reaction of local German civilians to existence of camp; incidents of cannibalism; sight of skeletal man kissing the feet of British soldier and dying; working for Jewish Committee; story of how mother was sent by to Switzerland to recover from TB. Aspects of period as refugee in post war Poland,: return to Lodz; antisemitic attitudes of Poles; meeting with future husband; arrest by Communists as US spy; emigration from Poland to US. REEL 6 Continues: Reflections on Holocaust experiences: affects on health; question of how their children have be affected by Holocaust experiences; husband's depression; importance of talking about experiences; attitudes towards Germans; question of not being fully able to understand Holocaust without directly experiencing it.