Lucy Gershwin Testimony
Object numberM2015/028:002
TitleLucy Gershwin Testimony
DescriptionVideo testimony for Holocaust Survivor Lucy Gershwin. Lucy and her parents escaped to Czechoslovakia where they managed to survive in a ghetto. Although the family was conscious of their neighbours disappearing, they could not fathom the idea of concentration camps or gas chambers. No one knew what happened to them- they never returned.
There, Lucy met Mark because their families were close. Mark’s father ran a business that kept the family in good conditions. Yet one day in 1942 two trucks of soldiers came and kicked open the door. Mark’s father had all his goods taken away. Next, Mark and his father were taken. That night they returned unharmed due to Mark’s mother bribing the Jewish police. It was after this that Lucy and Mark decided to get married. The future was uncertain and they wanted to have something to hold on to. They married in a Synagogue on the main street.
Three weeks later an announcement was made for people on certain blocks to meet in the town centre. Lucy’s street was omitted, but her parents’ was not. Lucy watched from her window as thousands of people gathered and tried to locate their parents. Yet the crowd was too big and they couldn’t find a familiar face. Germans pushed people to the right or the left. Right meant being sent to a concentration camp.
The following day the remaining people in the ghetto were given a half-loaf of bread. While waiting in line, Lucy saw her family surrounded by Gestapo. Lucy doesn’t recall what happened because she fainted. Apparently Lucy’s mother was given a choice of letting her children stay. Yet the family decided to stick together. They were taken to Treblinka and killed the next day.
Lucy and Mark were resettled the following day. When it was their turn for selection, miraculously both were sent left, yet men and women were separated. They were put into barracks near an ammunition factory where Lucy was able to keep track of Mark’s location, following him in transports to other factories. For 2 years they lived on scarce food, torture and humiliation but were powered by love to keep faith.
By 1945 the Russians were close. The soldiers panicked and quickened the killing of Jews. Mark was put onto a train, but Lucy heard him say, “If we live, we meet back in Czestochowa.” Alone, Lucy knew her turn was soon and decided to hide in her barrack’s cellar. It was dark and above, she heard the Germans load everyone into trucks and leave. By morning, light showed that she was with 20 other people. One man ventured out and declared that the camp was deserted and they were free.
Lucy believed in her connection to Mark and set out to find him. For 4 months she searched Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, but Mark wasn’t on any survivor lists. She ended up in Munich where she randomly asked a man on the street about Mark. Surprisingly, this man was in a train with Mark and told Lucy they were liberated by American, British and French armies. Yet all he could remember is that Mark was too ill to go anywhere. Lucy went to the Survivor’s Committee and found Mark’s name, yet it didn’t have his location. The man at the desk recommended an American hospital in Schwabink where he might be.
Lucy arrived to find her husband was once there. Yet he had suffered from typhus and lost his memory. After 6 weeks he remembered his name and that he had to meet his wife in Czestochowa. It took Lucy another 6 weeks to reach Czestochowa, where she went to where Mark originally lived. There she found him and they had a tearful reunion. In 1949 Lucy and Mark immigrated to Australia to start their lives over. They had lost everyone but still had each other.
There, Lucy met Mark because their families were close. Mark’s father ran a business that kept the family in good conditions. Yet one day in 1942 two trucks of soldiers came and kicked open the door. Mark’s father had all his goods taken away. Next, Mark and his father were taken. That night they returned unharmed due to Mark’s mother bribing the Jewish police. It was after this that Lucy and Mark decided to get married. The future was uncertain and they wanted to have something to hold on to. They married in a Synagogue on the main street.
Three weeks later an announcement was made for people on certain blocks to meet in the town centre. Lucy’s street was omitted, but her parents’ was not. Lucy watched from her window as thousands of people gathered and tried to locate their parents. Yet the crowd was too big and they couldn’t find a familiar face. Germans pushed people to the right or the left. Right meant being sent to a concentration camp.
The following day the remaining people in the ghetto were given a half-loaf of bread. While waiting in line, Lucy saw her family surrounded by Gestapo. Lucy doesn’t recall what happened because she fainted. Apparently Lucy’s mother was given a choice of letting her children stay. Yet the family decided to stick together. They were taken to Treblinka and killed the next day.
Lucy and Mark were resettled the following day. When it was their turn for selection, miraculously both were sent left, yet men and women were separated. They were put into barracks near an ammunition factory where Lucy was able to keep track of Mark’s location, following him in transports to other factories. For 2 years they lived on scarce food, torture and humiliation but were powered by love to keep faith.
By 1945 the Russians were close. The soldiers panicked and quickened the killing of Jews. Mark was put onto a train, but Lucy heard him say, “If we live, we meet back in Czestochowa.” Alone, Lucy knew her turn was soon and decided to hide in her barrack’s cellar. It was dark and above, she heard the Germans load everyone into trucks and leave. By morning, light showed that she was with 20 other people. One man ventured out and declared that the camp was deserted and they were free.
Lucy believed in her connection to Mark and set out to find him. For 4 months she searched Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, but Mark wasn’t on any survivor lists. She ended up in Munich where she randomly asked a man on the street about Mark. Surprisingly, this man was in a train with Mark and told Lucy they were liberated by American, British and French armies. Yet all he could remember is that Mark was too ill to go anywhere. Lucy went to the Survivor’s Committee and found Mark’s name, yet it didn’t have his location. The man at the desk recommended an American hospital in Schwabink where he might be.
Lucy arrived to find her husband was once there. Yet he had suffered from typhus and lost his memory. After 6 weeks he remembered his name and that he had to meet his wife in Czestochowa. It took Lucy another 6 weeks to reach Czestochowa, where she went to where Mark originally lived. There she found him and they had a tearful reunion. In 1949 Lucy and Mark immigrated to Australia to start their lives over. They had lost everyone but still had each other.
Production date 2000 - 2000
Subjectsurvivors
Object nametestimonies
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Lucy Gershwin