Sol Schonberger Testimony
Object numberM2015/028:010
TitleSol Schonberger Testimony
DescriptionVideo testimony for Holocaust Survivor Sol Schonberger. Sol was born in 1929 in a Czechoslovakia. His childhood was changed when in 1938 anti-Semetic Ukrainians occupied the country. Soon Hungarians took over and the family thought they were safe, but they too turned out to be against the Jews. In 1941 Jews started being taken away from the community. There were rumors that the people were taken to be tied up and thrown in a river, or shot. Sol’s family didn’t believe such things could occur in modern times, but rumors continued. Soon Jews were being publicly beaten and harassed. Then the restrictions came; Jews could not go to school and radios were confiscated. The men went into a slave labor force.
On Passover 1944 orders came to take away all the Jews. Each person was allowed one bag of belongings and then taken by train to a ghetto. After some time, the family heard of weekly transports out of the ghetto. Sol’s family eventually was taken in cattle wagons with barbed wire out of the ghetto. At one stop, when the train’s engine needed more water, Sol’s car door slid open accidently and he escaped. Upon exit, an SS ordered for him to halt, yet Sol did not. Once he made it far he started to worry about his family and about the grief his absence would cause. Sol realized that the SS knew of this guilt too, that no one would leave his family. Sol reluctantly returned to the car.
Hours later the train arrived in Auschwitz where a man in a striped uniform came in striking everyone with a stick. After a blow to Sol, he whispered to him, “Say you’re 16.” Upon exit from the car, Sol was separated from the woman of his family, some of which he never saw again. Selection ensued in which he was sent to the right while his father was sent to the left. He instead followed his father and escaped an SS who attempted to put him in his place. Next, he was stripped down, given a uniform and had his hair cut. Sol remembers feeling completely dehumanized. Once put in barrack, Sol remembers smelling the smoke and realizing, “where you are and what hell is.”
One day the SS asked if anyone had worked with timber. It was Sol’s father’s job at home and they volunteered. They sent in a train to a camp controlled by German criminals. Sol was forced to dig ditches. At another time, the camp asked if anyone was a gardener. Sol volunteered his father and the two were put to work the camp’s vegetable garden. This was beneficial because Sol could then eat some of the produce he grew.
War began to end and one could see the German effort being concentrated on the murder of the Jews rather than winning the war. Military trains were stopped in order to let Jews go towards their death. Certain German civilians from the nearby town worked in the camp and Sol remembers they truly believed that Jews were subhuman.
By February 1945 the camp started to become evacuated. The night before the transport the camp became under attack. Sol recalls the alarms ringing and the sounds of the Russian bombardment. Soon the troops arrived, yet they were more concerned with the war front rather than liberating the camp. Sol’s father warned that the front could change so they left the area to the nearby German village. The next morning they continued their journey, only to be picked up by a Czechoslovakian transport. They learned that 3 sisters survived and upon their reunion, the family settled in Prague. The family attempted to go to the US but one day people in Prague sought survivors to take to Australia. Sol grasped this opportunity. Today, Sol describes Australia as “heaven on earth,” and has helped start up the Australian Ass. of Holocaust Survivors. Furthermore, he helped with the opening of the Sydney Jewish Museum. He asked that YOU tell the story of the Holocaust when he is gone.
On Passover 1944 orders came to take away all the Jews. Each person was allowed one bag of belongings and then taken by train to a ghetto. After some time, the family heard of weekly transports out of the ghetto. Sol’s family eventually was taken in cattle wagons with barbed wire out of the ghetto. At one stop, when the train’s engine needed more water, Sol’s car door slid open accidently and he escaped. Upon exit, an SS ordered for him to halt, yet Sol did not. Once he made it far he started to worry about his family and about the grief his absence would cause. Sol realized that the SS knew of this guilt too, that no one would leave his family. Sol reluctantly returned to the car.
Hours later the train arrived in Auschwitz where a man in a striped uniform came in striking everyone with a stick. After a blow to Sol, he whispered to him, “Say you’re 16.” Upon exit from the car, Sol was separated from the woman of his family, some of which he never saw again. Selection ensued in which he was sent to the right while his father was sent to the left. He instead followed his father and escaped an SS who attempted to put him in his place. Next, he was stripped down, given a uniform and had his hair cut. Sol remembers feeling completely dehumanized. Once put in barrack, Sol remembers smelling the smoke and realizing, “where you are and what hell is.”
One day the SS asked if anyone had worked with timber. It was Sol’s father’s job at home and they volunteered. They sent in a train to a camp controlled by German criminals. Sol was forced to dig ditches. At another time, the camp asked if anyone was a gardener. Sol volunteered his father and the two were put to work the camp’s vegetable garden. This was beneficial because Sol could then eat some of the produce he grew.
War began to end and one could see the German effort being concentrated on the murder of the Jews rather than winning the war. Military trains were stopped in order to let Jews go towards their death. Certain German civilians from the nearby town worked in the camp and Sol remembers they truly believed that Jews were subhuman.
By February 1945 the camp started to become evacuated. The night before the transport the camp became under attack. Sol recalls the alarms ringing and the sounds of the Russian bombardment. Soon the troops arrived, yet they were more concerned with the war front rather than liberating the camp. Sol’s father warned that the front could change so they left the area to the nearby German village. The next morning they continued their journey, only to be picked up by a Czechoslovakian transport. They learned that 3 sisters survived and upon their reunion, the family settled in Prague. The family attempted to go to the US but one day people in Prague sought survivors to take to Australia. Sol grasped this opportunity. Today, Sol describes Australia as “heaven on earth,” and has helped start up the Australian Ass. of Holocaust Survivors. Furthermore, he helped with the opening of the Sydney Jewish Museum. He asked that YOU tell the story of the Holocaust when he is gone.
Production date 2000 - 2000
Subjectsurvivors
Object nametestimonies
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Sol Schonberger