Author, Nathan Moskowitz has captured both his parents Holocaust experiences and recorded them as a book for posterity. This is very important in terms of historical narratives so the world not only does not forget the atrocities of World War II but also so we have as many of these stories to share with future generations as possible. As the generation who lived through the Holocaust leaves us, we need the first hand written accounts for our grandchildren and their future children to read and share. This is a historical event that should not be forgotten. The documents of the survivors of the Shoah are a tribute to those who did not survivor. Books like this honor their memories.
Gizella, or Gitelle in Yiddish, Moskowitz and Lieb Moskowitz both tell their stories of growing up in Kuzmino, Czechoslovakia. They describe the lives of their families and their town. How people lived and worked in the part of the world. Then they describe their childhoods interrupted by intrusion of the war. Worked into each of their stories are the statistics and facts that have been gathered by Yad Vashem and other historians supplying the background information that puts the personal experiences into historical perspective.
Lieb Moskowitz was born into a modest family living in Kuzmino, a small town. His father was a tailor. They also had their own animals, cows egg laying chickens and geese. Their farming life revolved around the Jewish holidays. Starting at Purim the family starting fattening up the goose and fermenting beets. Then for Passover the goose was eaten and the fat was rendered with enough schmaltz for Passover. The beets were made into borscht. There were fruit trees and a garden with vegetables and potatoes. There was a milk cow that gave them milk, butter and cheese. The family was very self sufficient. Lieb was born in 1928 and went to two schools in his childhood, both a cheder to learn Hebrew and prepare for his Bar Mitzvah and public school for general studies.
The first sign of unrest is that his father is conscripted in the Hungarian army, then he taken away for forced labor and Lieb never sees him again his family receives a postcard from his father reporting that he is being sent to the Russian front. In April 1944, the Hungarian police come and take everyone from the town to a ghetto. Their neighbors who they have lived side by side with ask for their valuables, because they know there will be no return. They are marched to a town three miles away to Munkatch to a brick factory. From here everyone is split up and some are sent by cattle car to Auschwitz.
Gitelle's life follows a similar path. Growing up in the same town she is the second oldest of eight children. She also grows up in as she describes it, "an average house". They have a garden with all kinds of fruit and nut trees. They also have a stable with cows, chickens and geese. In addition they have a vineyard and make their own wine. Her father makes a living buying and selling fields and property.
It is always amazing to me how the stroke of luck or timing is what saves one person and not another during the Shoah. Gitelle explains that when they got out of the cattle car at Auschwitz you were directed to the right or to the left, to die or to live and work. Gitelle's mother and sister were each holding a younger child, they were sent one way and Gitelle and her sister Leah were sent in the other line. They were sent to work. Gitelle describes in detail her memories of the time she spent in hard labor and moving from camp to camp till she was liberated in 1945. Then she tells of her traveling, trying to go home and then to England before coming to America.
Lieb also goes into detail of his memories of life in the concentration camps, of his work details and being moved from to camp to camp. He also tries to go back to Kuzmino, but finds out that cannot be home anymore. He also shares his account of traveling to America.
Also included in this book are all the papers, travel documents, concentration camp arrival and transfer logs, liberation papers and manifestos of inmates. To have all these papers including birth certificates is also impressive. These add historical weight along with the historical documentation from Mauthausen Museum and other places including International Tracing Services and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Even though seventy years have passed and Lieb and Gitelle Moskowitz have had a life filled with children and grandchildren the both have never forgotten the experiences of the dark days of the Shoah. This is an important documentation of their stories. Reading this book is like listening to someone recall their experience first hand. It is almost like you are sitting at the table while they tell you the story, you can hear their old world speech patterns and accents.
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