Open Book!
.avif)
Names Not Numbers
Meir Usherovitz
Meir Usherovitz
Meir was born on September 15, 1926, in Pabianice, Poland. He came from a large family, with uncles, aunts, cousins, and three brothers. Meir was the middle child. Growing up, the Jewish community in Poland faced significant anti-Semitism. One night, a stone was thrown through the window of their home, narrowly missing Meir's brother. This event prompted Meir’s parents to move the family to another building nearby.
1
At the time, Meir was 10 years old. Their new living conditions lacked plumbing and electricity; cooking was done with coal, and they relied on kerosene lamps for light.
Before the war, Meir attended school, but everything changed when the Germans arrived in September, marking the start of the war. The German army passed through Pabianice for days, and once they settled, the SS entered the city with orders to take care of the Jews.
2
3
Immediately, Meir’s older brother was taken by the Germans. While Meir didn’t initially know what happened to him, he later learned that his brother had been involved in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and was forced to clean up after the destruction of the ghetto. Tragically, a building wall collapsed, killing him.
4
The Germans began their campaign against the Jews by destroying the synagogue and imposing harsh measures, such as forcing Jews to wear yellow stars on both the front and back of their clothing. Eventually, a ghetto was established, where multiple families were crowded into small apartments. The living conditions were dire, and life became increasingly difficult.
5
Meir, along with his younger brother and mother, were taken to the Lodz ghetto, where his father had already been taken away. Life in the ghetto was marked by extreme deprivation, with people starving and collapsing in the streets.
Despite these challenges, Meir found work sewing buttons onto German army uniforms, a task that had to be done with precision. Failure to meet the required standards could lead to severe punishment.
6
The ghetto conditions worsened, and the Germans eventually began transporting Jews in cattle cars to Auschwitz. The train ride was horrific, with 150-200 people crammed into one section, forced to stand the entire time without air to breathe.
Upon arrival at Auschwitz, the Jews were divided between Auschwitz and Birkenau. Meir was separated from his mother and younger brother, never to see them again.
7
In Birkenau, Meir was put in a tent and stripped of his identity, given only a number in place of his name (7-6-8-8). The atmosphere was one of constant fear and death, with the smell of burning bodies filling the air as people were sent to the crematoriums.
Meir was assigned to work in a stable with horses belonging to the SS.
8
Sometimes, Polish farmers would secretly give him cigarettes or bread, which he had to smuggle into the camp, risking severe punishment. He learned quickly in Auschwitz that the key to survival was to remain silent, avoid complaints, and keep moving, no matter how sick or weak one felt. Many others gave up and committed suicide by touching the high-voltage electric fences surrounding the camp.
9
As the Russians advanced, the Germans decided to evacuate the camp, leading to the infamous "Death March." The conditions were brutal, with people dying along the way. Those who couldn’t keep up were shot on the spot. After days of walking, they reached a train station, but the line had been bombed by the Americans, delaying their transport. Eventually, they were taken to Mauthausen, a death camp in Austria.
10
Meir was then transferred to Ebensee, where he worked fixing train tracks in harsh conditions, often enduring bombings by the Allies.
When liberation came, the British army, along with a Jewish brigade from Palestine, arrived at the camp. Many prisoners rushed to the food storage, overeating and tragically dying because their weakened bodies couldn’t handle the sudden intake of food.
11
The Jewish brigade gathered survivors, including Meir, and brought them to Italy, where they received medical care. Eventually, Meir was among a group of 45 survivors granted permission to go to Palestine, which would later become Israel.
In Palestine, Meir was placed in a kibbutz called Manit, where he spent two years working and learning Hebrew. By 1948, when the British left Palestine, the war for independence began.
12
Meir was stationed in the Gush Etzion area between Jerusalem and Hebron. During the war, the Jordanian army took over the area, and Meir became a prisoner of war in Hebron. After a prisoner exchange, Meir returned to what was now the newly established State of Israel.
Reflecting on his survival during those tumultuous teenage years, Meir acknowledged the sheer will to live and see another day.
13
After the war, he married, a union that has lasted over 65 years, and had children. For many years, he couldn’t speak about his experiences, not even to his wife. Only later, when his granddaughter asked to interview him for a school project on the Holocaust, did he finally begin to share his story. He believed it was crucial for the new generation to understand the horrors that humans are capable of inflicting on one another.
14
Of his once large family, only he and two cousins survived the Holocaust.
15
16
17
18
19
20
The End
Meir Usherovitz interview at The Community Synagogue of Port Washington - 2023-2024
The Community Synagogue of Port Washington
