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Número del objetoM1991/001:003
DescripciónOne of three rectangular cakes of soap donated by Stefan Karp, survivor of Lodz ghetto, Auschwitz and Ludwigslust concentration camps.
Stefan Karp was born in Lodz on 7 October 1917. He attended a Jewish primary school, a state secondary school and Technical College. State institutions restricted the intake of Jews. Poles started to boycott Jewish shops. “There were hooligans who started to attack Jews in the street.” The family had to move into the ghetto. “It was in the poorest part of Lodz. We couldn’t take much—some warm clothing and bedding. He was assigned to the Building Department. He worked renovating Chaim Rumkowski’s apartment. “The main currency in the ghetto was food coupons. There were also soup kitchens to feed the needy. There were regular Aktions. Whereby the SS, aided by the ghetto police, selected the frail and the elderly. They were forced onto trucks. Never to be seen again.” Ultimately, the ghetto was liquidated. “They decided to clear everyone out—my mother, brother and I to Auschwitz. We had been in the ghetto for four years.”
Stefan’s brother got dysentery on the journey to Auschwitz. “They took him straight to the showers and gassed him. I was a healthy specimen and remained alive. My mother was taken with the elderly. I didn’t see her after that.” “They shaved us—our chests, heads, arms and legs. Even our armpits. Then we were disinfected and given uniforms. This was the start of life in Auschwitz.” He was selected to work in the coal mines. Queuing for his tattoo he mistakenly was given two. The next thing he knew was a German guard shouting at him. “He pulled me aside, took out his knife and cut it out.” He was assigned to a work detail composed of bricklayers He lied and said he was experienced. The group was transported to Ludwigslust to build barracks. Later, he was forced to work in the salt mines. All day they had to use small electrical sledgehammers with little time to rest. One day the Germans disappeared. American tanks began to rumble past the camp. Stefan accepted a bottle of wine from one of the ‘Yanks’ and soon found himself in a hospital bed in an airport hangar with 100s of others. He went back to the family apartment in Lodz to find the janitor had occupied their flat, “living with all our clothes, furniture and belongings.” Stefan settled in Sydney, “where he could make a fresh start.”
There is no reference in his VHA interview to the bars of soap.
Stefan Karp was born in Lodz on 7 October 1917. He attended a Jewish primary school, a state secondary school and Technical College. State institutions restricted the intake of Jews. Poles started to boycott Jewish shops. “There were hooligans who started to attack Jews in the street.” The family had to move into the ghetto. “It was in the poorest part of Lodz. We couldn’t take much—some warm clothing and bedding. He was assigned to the Building Department. He worked renovating Chaim Rumkowski’s apartment. “The main currency in the ghetto was food coupons. There were also soup kitchens to feed the needy. There were regular Aktions. Whereby the SS, aided by the ghetto police, selected the frail and the elderly. They were forced onto trucks. Never to be seen again.” Ultimately, the ghetto was liquidated. “They decided to clear everyone out—my mother, brother and I to Auschwitz. We had been in the ghetto for four years.”
Stefan’s brother got dysentery on the journey to Auschwitz. “They took him straight to the showers and gassed him. I was a healthy specimen and remained alive. My mother was taken with the elderly. I didn’t see her after that.” “They shaved us—our chests, heads, arms and legs. Even our armpits. Then we were disinfected and given uniforms. This was the start of life in Auschwitz.” He was selected to work in the coal mines. Queuing for his tattoo he mistakenly was given two. The next thing he knew was a German guard shouting at him. “He pulled me aside, took out his knife and cut it out.” He was assigned to a work detail composed of bricklayers He lied and said he was experienced. The group was transported to Ludwigslust to build barracks. Later, he was forced to work in the salt mines. All day they had to use small electrical sledgehammers with little time to rest. One day the Germans disappeared. American tanks began to rumble past the camp. Stefan accepted a bottle of wine from one of the ‘Yanks’ and soon found himself in a hospital bed in an airport hangar with 100s of others. He went back to the family apartment in Lodz to find the janitor had occupied their flat, “living with all our clothes, furniture and belongings.” Stefan settled in Sydney, “where he could make a fresh start.”
There is no reference in his VHA interview to the bars of soap.
Fecha 1940 - 1945
Nombre del objetosoap
Dimensiones
- whole width: 28.00 mm
height: 69.00 mm
depth: 25.00 mm
Línea de créditoSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Stefan Karp