Object numberM2020/003:012
DescriptionReference certifying the employment of Hermina Silberfeld with the Association of Jewish Refugees from Poland Department of Culture and Investigation Archive. Hermina worked from April-August 1945 in Bucharest translating testimony about the extermination of Jews in Europe.
Hermina was born to Polish Jews Nathan Silberfeld and Anna (nee Hollander) on 27 November 1914 in Miskolc, Hungary. In 1918, the family returned to their home in the small town of Stary Sacz, Poland. Hermina attended a reputable convent school, which gave her a knowledge of German and Catholicism that was particularly helpful for Hermina’s survival during the Holocaust.
In September 1939, Hermina, her parents and other relatives fled east by horse and cart. The Germans were bombarding Poland as they travelled and Hermina remembered hiding in ditches as the planes flew overhead. Halfway through their journey they managed to board a train, but during the trip Hermina was injured in the head by shrapnel from a German attack. They sheltered in the Ukrainian town of Drohobych while Hermina recovered and then moved on to Tarnopol. After several months there, Hermina went alone to join her brother Isidor in Lvov, where he had secured her a job as a bookkeeper. Sometime after she left, her parents were transported to Siberia by the Soviet regime.
In 1942, Hermina attained false identification papers of a Polish-Catholic woman, Jadwiga Eleonora Jazemiszewska. As Jadwiga she was able to find new accommodation and work, and at the end of 1942, move to Krakow to better safeguard her secret. She was questioned by Gestapo officials and at one stage held in a Jewish prison as a suspected Jew, but released after a week. In 1943 she moved to Warsaw and then to Budapest, where she was until liberation.
After the war she kept the name Jadwiga and got work in Bucharest typing the testimonies of concentration camp survivors for the Association of Polish Jewish Refugees. She found out her father had died of hunger and disease, but her mother and brother survived. She was reunited with them in Poland. She lived in Katowice, Poland, with her husband Jan Sapera who she met and married in 1946. Jan was also a survivor, having been in a POW camp, a work camp in Biala Podlaska and the Lodz Ghetto. They immigrated to Australia in 1958 with their three children. In the last decade of her life she re-adopted her Jewish name Hermina.
Hermina was born to Polish Jews Nathan Silberfeld and Anna (nee Hollander) on 27 November 1914 in Miskolc, Hungary. In 1918, the family returned to their home in the small town of Stary Sacz, Poland. Hermina attended a reputable convent school, which gave her a knowledge of German and Catholicism that was particularly helpful for Hermina’s survival during the Holocaust.
In September 1939, Hermina, her parents and other relatives fled east by horse and cart. The Germans were bombarding Poland as they travelled and Hermina remembered hiding in ditches as the planes flew overhead. Halfway through their journey they managed to board a train, but during the trip Hermina was injured in the head by shrapnel from a German attack. They sheltered in the Ukrainian town of Drohobych while Hermina recovered and then moved on to Tarnopol. After several months there, Hermina went alone to join her brother Isidor in Lvov, where he had secured her a job as a bookkeeper. Sometime after she left, her parents were transported to Siberia by the Soviet regime.
In 1942, Hermina attained false identification papers of a Polish-Catholic woman, Jadwiga Eleonora Jazemiszewska. As Jadwiga she was able to find new accommodation and work, and at the end of 1942, move to Krakow to better safeguard her secret. She was questioned by Gestapo officials and at one stage held in a Jewish prison as a suspected Jew, but released after a week. In 1943 she moved to Warsaw and then to Budapest, where she was until liberation.
After the war she kept the name Jadwiga and got work in Bucharest typing the testimonies of concentration camp survivors for the Association of Polish Jewish Refugees. She found out her father had died of hunger and disease, but her mother and brother survived. She was reunited with them in Poland. She lived in Katowice, Poland, with her husband Jan Sapera who she met and married in 1946. Jan was also a survivor, having been in a POW camp, a work camp in Biala Podlaska and the Lodz Ghetto. They immigrated to Australia in 1958 with their three children. In the last decade of her life she re-adopted her Jewish name Hermina.
Production placeBucharest, Romania
Production date 1945-08-30 - 1945-08-30
Subject, survivors
Object namereferences
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 236.00 mm
height: 324.00 mm
Language
- German Association of Jewish Refugees from Poland Department of Culture and Investigation Archive
Bucharest, 30 August 1945
Calea Mosilor 128
Certificate of Employment
We hereby certify that Miss
Silberfeld Hermina
Worked with the Historical Commission in Bucharest and in Oradea Mare and that she acted as collector of historical documents about the extermination of Jews in Europe.
At the time of her employment, from 1 April 1945 to 30 August 1945 she proved herself to be an outstanding employee. The materials collected by her were displayed at a special exhibition in Bucharest.
We warmly recommend Miss Silberfeld for further work.
Signature
Archive manager
Signature
Committee Chairman
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Tessa Boucher