Open Book!
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Names Not Numbers
Samuel Marder
Samuel Marder
Sam was born on May 3, 1930, in Czernowitz, Romania (now Ukraine), though his official papers list his birthdate as December 11, 1930. He lived with his parents and older sister, along with two cousins who shared the same building. His parents hailed from Galatzia, Southern Poland. Sam's father owned a grocery store, while his mother was a homemaker, and they maintained a very religious Hasidic home.
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Sam began attending Cheder at age four and started music studies at age six. From a young age, he felt the sting of anti-Semitism, experiencing stone-throwing on his way to school.
In 1939/40, when the Soviets annexed Czernowitz, life improved somewhat for the Jews. The Soviets organized a Yiddish school, which Sam attended for the fourth grade, and he was also accepted into a Soviet conservatory.
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Although he was offered the opportunity to study music in Moscow, his father did not permit him to leave home.
In 1941, when the Russians retreated and the Romanians and Germans took over, a fascist government was established, leading to the execution of Jewish leaders and the creation of a ghetto. Sam’s father, who had a German friend offering to save the family, declined the offer to avoid putting his friend in danger.
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During the first transport, Jews were told to pack and were taken to a train station, where they were locked in cattle cars with no knowledge of their destination. Sam, then just ten years old, was among them. The train arrived in Marculesti (modern-day Moldova), where they were placed in empty houses previously inhabited by Jews who had been killed. However, they were soon forced into a grueling march through wet and cold fields.
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Sam carried his small violin, which was tragically stolen by a peasant.
They stopped for a night in Oberdovka, where a rabbi and his wife tragically committed suicide. Just seven kilometers from their final destination, Verchovka, Sam's father died a few weeks after arriving at the camp. Sam, also ill, had a dream where his father came to him. This urged him to stay strong and survive.
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As the Romanian government sought to distance itself from the Germans, with assistance from the Red Cross and Jews in Bucharest, they arranged for children to be taken out. Sam and his sister left by foot to Balta, Ukraine. However, the Jewish ghetto in Balta was soon overtaken by SS soldiers. Fortunately, Sam's cousin, who had joined the Russian soldiers, found him and his sister and reunited them with their mother.
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When Sam was 14 years old, the Russians liberated them. He, his mother, and his sister traveled by foot and military trains back to their home, only to find their apartment empty, except for some family photos hidden in a closet.
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They discovered a Polish birth certificate in their apartment, and Sam had his mother's name illegally added to it so she could have official papers—a necessity at the time when travel and being out without documentation were illegal. They fled Poland by cattle car, eventually ending up in the basement of a yeshiva in Loje.
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Sam’s cousin was arrested and sent to the coal mines but managed to escape and later emigrated to Israel, where he and Sam were reunited as adults. In Loje, Sam and his family made contact with Palestinian Jews who were assisting Jewish survivors in escaping. They crossed into Czechoslovakia through the forest but were caught at the border and pretended to be Greeks.
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Eventually, they reached the American zone in Germany and were taken to Munich, then sent to a DP camp (Fohrenwald). There, Sam met a violin professor and resumed playing the violin.
In 1949, an uncle in the U.S. arranged for Sam and his family to emigrate to the United States.
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They arrived in New York, where Sam attended the Manhattan School of Music on a full scholarship, earning both his bachelor's and master's degrees before pursuing postgraduate studies at Columbia University. A friend in the Philharmonic Orchestra helped Sam secure increasingly prestigious jobs, and he eventually met his wife, Sonya, a pianist, at school and shul.
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Sam toured extensively throughout the U.S., Canada, and around the world, becoming an accomplished violinist, musician, and concertmaster. In addition to his musical career, Sam translated Yiddish poetry into English and authored works in both Yiddish and English. Today, he gives talks voluntarily at schools, speaking out against prejudice.
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The End
Samuel Marder interview at at Schechter Manhattan - 2023-2024
Schechter Manhattan