Baruch and Cila Knaster papers

Baruch Knaster (1905-2001) was born on March 10, 1905 in Łódź, Poland. He married Brucha Mandelcare and they had three children Schul, Schmiel, and Chana Knaster. Brucha Knaster and the children perished in the Holocaust. Baruch Knaster was deported to three forced labor camps. He was imprisoned in Auschwitz and Mauthausen concentration camps. He was liberated from Mauthausen concentration camp. After the war, Baruch Knaster met Cila in a displaced persons camp and they married on August 20, 1946. Their daughter, Mirka Knaster, was born on May 11, 1947 in a DP camp in Bari, Italy. Their second daughter is Rebecca Knaster. The Knaster family immigrated to the United States aboard the SS Marine Jumper, arriving on November 21, 1949. Baruch Knaster died in 2001. Cila Knaster died on December 20, 2007. Cila Knaster (1908-2007) was born Esther Cila Hausman on December 22, 1908 in Jasionowka, Poland. In 1942, Cila’s mother Merka Levine Hausman (1883-1942), her husband Jossel Radzi (Yossl Radzi, 1909-1942), and their two children Razel Radzi (1935-1942) and Sholomas Radzi (1939-1942) were taken away and likely shot by Nazis. Cila Knaster survived the Holocaust. After the war, Cila met Baruch Knaster in a displaced persons camp and they married on August 20, 1946. Their daughter, Mirka Knaster, was born on May 11, 1947 in a DP camp in Bari, Italy. Their second daughter is Rebecca Knaster. The Knaster family immigrated to the United States aboard the SS Marine Jumper, arriving on November 21, 1949. Baruch Knaster died in 2001. Cila Knaster died on December 20, 2007.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Rebecca Knaster

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

Rebecca Knaster donated the Baruch and Cila Knaster papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 and 2018.