Israel Berkenwald memoir

Israel Berkenwald (1923-2009) was born on 2 April 1923 to Efroim Menashe (1883-1943) and Leia (née Grossman, 1885-1943) Berkenwald in Łódź, Poland. Israel, the youngest of five children, had three sisters, Sala (1905-1944), Dora (1908-1943), and Roza (1914-1944), and a brother Mendel (1921-1942). The Berkenwald family were employed as tailors and lived among many extended relatives in Łódź. Following the German invasion of Poland Israel and his loved ones were imprisoned in the Łódź Ghetto and forced to work in ghetto workshops. Israel found work elsewhere, working both at the train station and digging graves in the ghetto cemetery. As the persecution of Jews in Łódź intensified, members of the Berkenwald family were dispersed. Some family members, including Israel's parents, attempted to go in to hiding, while others were transferred to nearby camps and ghettos or deported to Nazi killing centers. Israel remained in Łódź until the liquidation of the Łódź ghetto in August 1944. Thereafter he was sent to Auschwitz. Israel would ultimately be transferred on through the camp system and was imprisoned at various satellite camps of Neuengamme. In May 1945 Israel was liberated by American forces at the Wöbbelin. After liberation Israel returned briefly to Poland and found that he was the only survivor of his family. As a consequence of antisemitism he later returned to Germany and found work as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army. During this time Israel lived in the Zeilsheim displaced persons camp. In Zeilsheim Israel met Jadzia Zylberberg (1924-2011) a fellow survivor from Łódź. The couple were separated when Israel immigrated to the United States aboard the SS Marine Flasher in May 1946. The following year Israel and Jadzia (later Jean) married in New York where they settled and raised a family.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Israel Berkenwald.

Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Israel Berkenwald in 1995.