![[es-ES]Go to[es-ES] Sydney Jewish Museum [es-ES]Home page](/AIS/Content/Images/logo_b3660c53.svg){kind=logo}
Número del objetoM2010/001:035
DescripciónThree-pages of typed testimony given by Wolf Sambol of Rawa Ruska, recorded in the Refugee House in Bucharest in 1945 by Jadwiga Sapera. The first 3 pages are missing; the existing testimony begins on page 4. The eyewitness account begins with a description of the escapees from the trains, called the 'jumpers', who were collected daily, placed into carts and buried in mass graves in the cemetery. Those that jumped off the trains who were shot dead numbered in the tens of thousands. He then goes on to describe the second 'aktion' of the Jewish population of RAWA RUSKA. It talks about the 'Death Group' who follow the liquidation of the ghetto collecting corpses for burial in a mass grave in the cemetery.
Jadwiga Sapera was born Hermina Silberfeld, 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 Stary Sacz, Poland. Hermina attended a convent, which gave her a knowledge of German and Catholicism that was helpful for her survival. In 1942, Hermina attained false identification papers of a Polish-Catholic woman, Jadwiga Eleonora Jarzemiszewska. As Jadwiga she was able to find new accommodation and work, and at the end of 1942, moved to Krakow to better safeguard her secret. In 1943 she moved to Warsaw and then to Budapest, 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 with her husband Jan Sapera who she met and married in 1946. They immigrated to Australia in 1958 with their three children. In the last decade of her life she re-adopted her Jewish name Hermina.
Jadwiga Sapera was born Hermina Silberfeld, 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 Stary Sacz, Poland. Hermina attended a convent, which gave her a knowledge of German and Catholicism that was helpful for her survival. In 1942, Hermina attained false identification papers of a Polish-Catholic woman, Jadwiga Eleonora Jarzemiszewska. As Jadwiga she was able to find new accommodation and work, and at the end of 1942, moved to Krakow to better safeguard her secret. In 1943 she moved to Warsaw and then to Budapest, 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 with her husband Jan Sapera who she met and married in 1946. They immigrated to Australia in 1958 with their three children. In the last decade of her life she re-adopted her Jewish name Hermina.
Fecha 1945
Nombre del objetotestimonies
Materialpaper
Lenguaje
- Polish (first 3 pages are missing)
Rawa Ruska – testimony given by Wolf Sambol
In the Refugee House in Bucharest in 1945
The corpses of the new arrivals, the escapees from the trains called the “jumpers” were collected daily, placed into carts and buried in mass graves in the cemetery. The official authority were not aware of the train jumpers (escapees) being in our city. The Jewish residents collected them and hid them in various hiding places and cellars. The number of those that were alive was estimated as being around 2000. However those that jumped off the trains who were shot dead numbered in the tens of thousands.
Several weeks after the second “action” the Jewish population of RAWA RUSKA was allocated three streets of the nearest district were they were to be concentrated. In September of the same year Jews from surrounding areas were brought into our city without widening our district. The number of residents of the Jewish district including the “jumpers” (escapees from the trains) grew to around 15000 persons. The cramped conditions were indescribable. 20 to 30 people occupied one room and sometimes even more and not even mentioning the terrible hygienic conditions and the extreme difficulty in feeding everyone. It is not surprising that the typhus epidemic developed because all the conditions for its spread were there. The illness developed in its worst form. Every day 10 to 20 people died from typhus.
The epidemic outbreak was another reason for carrying out an action in Rawa Ruska, and this time under the guise of separating the sick and sending them to another district. Police again arrived and they were KRIP, SIPO, SZUPO and in addition the Jewish police were forced to take part. Immediately before the action in response to a German order the Judenrat had to recruit 50 new policemen. The Gestapo set up their headquarters in the City and a well-known Oberscharfuhrer GRZYMEK arrived who was well known for his aktions in Malopolska.
It was Monday the 7th December 1942. The Jewish district was surrounded. The Jewish population who already endured 2 aktions realised that something terrible was brewing. An order was given to transfer all the sick to the synagogue, and the order had to be carried out by the Jewish police. The Jewish inhabitants bolted the doors and windows of their homes. They learnt to defend themselves even though their methods were primitive – they had nothing to lose. The sick were taken to the attics, to the cellars and bunkers which were prepared long ago. There was a deafening silence on the streets of the district. Shooting had begun. In many homes people had nowhere to hide. They are waiting in their homes, in a foetal position on what is about to happen to them. The breaking open of doors and windows had begun, as well as shots being fired into the homes. Whoever was killed by a bullet had the good fortune of dying immediately, and the rest who were taken alive were herded into the workshop. This however did not stop in a day. This was repeated daily. A thousand to 1,500 Jews, men, women and children, the young and the old were herded into the workshop. During the evening 40-50 healthy men were picked out (sorted) for work in camps and the rest were sent by train to BELZEC. Trains with the “human” cargo travelling to BELZEC were leaving Rawa Ruska for 4 consecutive days. Many victims upon arrival to Belzec were killed on the spot. The action in Belzec was supervised by GRZYMAK and I also remember other German surnames who carried out the action , SPETT from KRIPO, KLEIN (a foreman) TRAGNER and MAJERT, all of them took part in the liquidation.
I was one of those who was taken away from the workshop which was the holding point where Jews had to go during the first days of the Aktion and we were sent to the KAMIEN camp. We were around 250 men and we were guaranteed there for three weeks. Later we were assigned to work in a sawmill to work for the Wehrmacht. We also stayed here for 3 weeks after which a liquidation of the camp began. Forty men were chosen as policemen and 100 were chosen as workers and they were sent to the ghetto in Rawa Ruska, and the remainder were sent to the JANOWSKI camp in LWOW. I found myself among those chosen as workers in Rawa Ruska. The task of our group was to clean out the homes left by the Jews, and to collect goods and take them to an allotted holding place. I was employed as an electrician for the Germans. After a period of 2 weeks a group of Gestapo arrived and took away a contingent of 60 men. I continued to remain in Rawa Ruska.
In Rawa Ruska still remained a group of 70 men who lived totally separately outside the ghetto. This group was called the “death group” who following the liquidation of the ghetto collected the scattered corpses and buried them in a mass grave in the cemetery. When they finished their work they were ordered to dig a fresh large grave in the cemetery. Not sensing that this large grave was going to be for them they quietly went to their homes. On the same day GRZYMEK arrived with his executioners, surrounded their house and under gun fire they were chased into the cemetery. They were executed at the grave which they had previously dug with a bullet at the back of the skull.
(several lines were illegible)
It was already March 1943. Officially in the ghetto remained 100 people, but unofficially 250 - 300. The numbers grew because people came out of their hiding placed and we had to continue hiding them and provide food for them which was very expensive and which we bought from the peasants who were on the other side of the ghetto fence. Even though the Aktion had ceased a while ago the gestapo GRZYMEK and KLEIN there were several victims. GRZYMEK and later SPETT arrived to the ghetto unexpectedly. Those persons that were in the ghetto unofficially came out of their hiding placed and seeing the approaching gestapo began to run away. The gestapo would shoot to death anyone who even appeared to be running away or showed an impulse to run. GRZYMEK lived in Rawa Ruska with a German woman he had kept. She also knew how to shoot. One time she noticed a worker whose job was to clean out houses left behind by Jews put a cotton spool into his pocket. She shot him to death next to GRZYMEK who stood next to her. She often assisted GRZYMEK during his excursions into the ghetto. Two months after the liquidation of the Jewish section of the Ghetto GRZYMEK left for LWOW. He was assisted with his packing by several members of the Odnungdienst.
GRZYMEK’S assistant was Hauptscharjuhrer PRESSMAN, an elderly person who took a house in the ghetto as his home even though there were many houses in RAWA RUSKA. PRESSMANN was different in that he was a more gentle person in contrast to GRZYMEK and as a result there was tension in the ghetto. There were no victims from PRESSMANN’S hands. SPETT, however, gave us no peace. When he found out that there were illegals in the ghetto he arrived unexpectedly taking PRESSMANN to assist him and with the help of the police who were criminals surrounded the house where the illegals were and during the lunch period when they did not hide they were all shot to death on the spot.
Work in the ghetto had ended and we felt that the liquidation of the ghetto was coming to an end, a fright came over us. We decided not to voluntarily give ourselves up to the Germans in case of a new action. We made contact with some Germans who were friendly towards us as well as with some peasants in order to buy weapons. Unfortunately we were not successful in setting up a partisan group because of the following events that had occurred: a group of 3 of our men went to see some peasants to obtain short firearms. Some arms we already had in the ghetto which we bought from some Germans. Whilst getting nearer to a pre determining meeting place they were spotted by the Germans from KRIPO. Our men began to flee and they were shot at. One of our men was wounded and brought to the ghetto by the Germans. Doctors were ordered to keep him alive and thus he was sent to the hospital. The following day several other incidents occurred. In our ghetto there were several illegal Jews who were trouble makers and had firearms. They sensed that because of the failed attempt of our men to obtain arms from a peasant a near repression in the ghetto will begin and so they ran to their hiding place in the Catholic cemetery. The Germans began shooting and wounded one of them who was caught. He betrayed the entire partisan organization and as a result our Jewish commandant AVERBUCH was arrested and shot to death.
The last liquidation in the ghetto occurred on the 8th of June 1943. The Germans used the following trick: In order to catch all the Jews they announced that they will promise to transfer each Jew including illegal Jews to the POTYLICZ work camp in RAWA RUSKA after they made a contribution of 100,000 zloty. This work camp was moved to RATA which was near the Catholic cemetery. Everyone volunteered. The next day everyone with no exceptions were executed in the forest and some were executed on the spot.
Sensing that this was the last liquidation I escaped from the ghetto into a village before the liquidation began. During the entire period (over a year) I remained in the village until the Red Army arrived on the 27th of July 1944.
Translated by Michael Herman.
Typed by Ethel Davis
Fragments of experience of Jews (suffering: what they went through) in RAWA RUSKA - from WOLF SAMBOL’S own notes (diary)
During an ‘Aktion’ in the Jewish district: The square in front of the Synagogue. They run around like mad. Beasts craving for blood pulling out victims from cellars and other hiding places. Many of them were fortunate. Their death was easy being killed by a bullet at the doorstep of their homes. They now don’t know anything about themselves. As far as the eyes can see there are only corpses laying in the streets. Each corpse lies in a pool of blood. Is it possible to forget such a scene? How a mother recognises her son lying with a bloody forehead? She falls on him with lament and – immediately a shot is heard which cuts short her crying. She also received a bullet in the head. She died lying on the corpse of her son. Further on can be seen a man lying on the ground with his hands folded. He did not have a head. His head was lying further away as if it was cut off with an axe. On the other side lays a child with its mouth open as if it wanted to say something.
In the square of the Belska synagogue and the Beth Hamid rash stands with his friends the head of the gendarmerie. He gave a directive to bring to him a group of Jews. Becoming very impatient he runs around the square yelling “Es dauert zu lang” (It takes too long!) From one direction a group of 20 men are already being brought. The group is increasing numbering now 40 men. The head of the gendarmerie takes out of his pocket a bottle of vodka, hits it and the cork comes off. With a wild looking appearance and protruding murderous eyes he drinks from the bottle without stopping and then pauses and says to the victims the following words (with a voice of an angry wild animal) “Ihr seid keine Judsen mehr, ihr seid ausserwahlte. Ich bin Eeuer Mosche und ich werde Euch durch das tot Meer Juhren” – translation: (You are not Jews anymore. You are the chosen. I am your Moses and I will lead you through your death) and with his machine gun he began shooting directly into the group. The dead fell on one another up to the last one. They lay as if they were laying on a hill of death and blood began to flow as if it was flowing from a spring into the nearby canal. After a certain period of time a little girl stands up from the mass of corpses that covered her in a way that she wasn’t spotted and thus was able to survive. Covered in blood she looked in every direction then ran away.
The workshop meeting place.
You can see here all the acquaintances – they are not humans. It sees that on the edge of an abyss, purposely staring at death in the eyes which will arrive in half an hour. Here you hear wild screams from mouths of wild people who are saying goodbye (bidding farewell) for ever with their very close ones. In this mass of people are found those who don’t have any more tears for crying. Their only wish is to be half an hour older. Among them are people milling around – people who are laughing and singing. They are to be envied. They are not able anymore to comprehend their current situation – they have lost their minds (ability to reason). They tear off their clothes and remain naked. After a period of time the murderers rush in with their weapons and begin to beat the people but who feels the beatings, they are beating in the main those that are already dead. In one corner sits a bearded old Jew with ‘payes’ (dreadlocks) he is Herszele, the pearl of the city ‘Talmid Chacham’. (*Talmid Chacham is an honorific title given to one well versed in Jewish law, in effect a Torah scholar). He sits (certainly for the first time in his life with his head uncovered) with no shoes, only wearing one sock on his left shoe. He doesn’t cry. People are asking him something and he answers, “God wanted it this way because we blasphemed.”
Línea de créditoSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Jadwiga Sapera