Arthur Spielman

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The Story of Arthur Spielman “To save your life you would do anything […] we never were thinking of changing to be anything else but Jewish. […] Me being here today is a miracle […]  sheer luck” -Arthur Spielman Nazi Headquarters or Polish Royalty ?             In Krakow, Poland, September, 1939, the Nazi flag was raised at the Wawel castle marking a German victory, the invasion of Poland, and the beginning  of World War II. The Germans declared Krakow as the designated capital of the General government. Hans Frank was appointed Governor General and established his headquarters in the Wawel Castle, former home to Poland’s royalty. At first, the ambitions of the Nazi officials was to remove Jews from the rest of the Polish society. After December, 1939, Jews living in ghettos were required to wear identifying badges or armbands and a decree was issued...

Luba Dora Malz

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    “I was in a concentration camp and I didn’t know what was going on…We did not believe it because it is not human nature to kill people. How could we figure out they were going to kill hundreds or thousands or millions of people?”  -Luba Malz When the Germans invaded Poland, Luba Dora Malz (née Rogozinsky) was 13 years old.  She was born in Lodz, Poland in 1926.  The first indication to Luba’s family that something was wrong is when Jews in Poland were no longer allowed to go to school.  Jewish owned factories began to be closed down.  That is when the war started for her family.  One night, a neighbor identified her as Jewish when she went into a nearby store to pay for bread.  Luba was kicked out of the store without the bread. She was then beaten. That same neighbor was a close family friend and their children had played with Luba and her siblings. ...

Gabi Held

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Edward Polidi

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Edward Polidi was born on a cold winter day in Sofia, Bulgaria on December 23rd, 1935. It was an extremely cold day, with lots of snow which hindered transportation to the hospital. Because of this, Edward was born in his home. He remembers being told, “You will be a very lucky, fortunate and happy person”. At the time, he didn’t know how true this statement would be. His father, Israel Polidi worked as a teacher at the University. His mother was an opera singer – obviously from whom Edward inherited his love for music.  His uncle, Raphael Cohen, was the only Bulgarian to ever win the Nobel Prize. As a baby, he was always attracted towards music. He had great access to a wide variety of classics by great composers, including Mozart, Verdi and Schubert. On his third birthday, he was given a toy violin and xylophone, and began his life long love of playing music....

Romi Cohn

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   Romi Cohn Born on March 10, 1929, Romi Cohn grew up in Czechoslovakia when it was invaded by the Germans when he was ten years old. Cohn and his family continued to live there due to an “economic exception,” until they decided it was too dangerous and he was sent to Hungary. A couple years later, he returned to Czechoslovakia and began helping Jewish refugees receive Christian papers or find places to live. After being arrested for possession of false Christian documents, Romi Cohn made an escape and joined the partisans. He later retold his story in his novel The Youngest Partisan. Today, Romi Cohn is a rabbi in New York City and real estate developer.      “He show me a paper, he looks at the paper, he says, alright, very good. What is your name? I said Romi Cohn. He said, your name is Jan Kovatch. I say, Mr. Captain, I’m sorry, my name is Romi Cohn....