Zalman Lubocki memoir

Zalman Lubocki was a Lithuanian Jew living in Kaunas (Kovno) when the Germans invaded in 1941. He lived with his wife, parents Joseph and Rivka, and his three brothers, Chaim, Morris, and Meilach. During the initial weeks of the occupation, Zalman and his family hid in their house, waiting out the partisan violence that began to take place. They stayed in their home several weeks until they were discovered and forced into labor. Eventually, the Lubocki family was forced to live in the Kovno (Kaunas) ghetto, and continued to work hard labor. In 1943, the ghetto was cleared out, and the Lubockis were separated and put onto different transport train cars. Zalman was able to stay with his brothers, Chaim, Morris, and Meilach. The Lubocki brothers arrived in Port Kunda, Estonia, without the rest of their family. There, they worked in a cement factory, a mine, and built a canal, among other hard labor assignments until August 1944, when they were sent to Stutthof. They worked hard labor for two months before being sent to Magdeburg, where they worked in an ammunitions factory. The brothers stayed there until April, 1945. As the Soviet army closed in on the area, German troops began to flee. The Lubocki brothers escaped, staying in a barn and later a German civilian’s home for several weeks. After the liberation and the end of the war, Zalman traveled to Prague, before settling in Landsberg, Germany. His parents had perished and his wife had been liberated near Stutthof only to die of illness a week after liberation.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

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The Zalman Lubocki memoir was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1995 by Zalman Lubocki.