Student Profile: M. Halbersztadt

Profession: Gardener

Jackson,

This is an interesting subject. It's possible you have found the right person. There are three entries for Mendel in the Lodz Ghetto Database (Mendel Halberstadt, Mendel Halbersztadt, Moniek Mendel Halbersztadt). All lived at the same addresses, and two of them have the birth year 1929, while the other has the birth date of June 24, 1928. Regardless, at the age of twelve or thirteen, he would have been a little bit young to have been a student in gymnasium/high school in 1941. Mendel's records are interesting because they indicate that he was transported out of the ghetto on November 5, 1942, but he must have returned because he changes his address in the ghetto on July 19, 1944!

Another possible match for M. Halbersztadt, however, is Pinkus Majlech Halbersztadt (Halberstadt). He is listed as a student (schueler), and his age is a better match for gymnasium (born on 10/04/1924). I'm afraid we just can't tell at this point who "M. Halbersztadt" is. Hopefully, you or someone else will find more information to confirm his identity.

I read your comments to a previous submission about there being two people who could be "M. Halbersztadt" in the database. I however think that these could be the same people. Yes, they are a year apart in birth dates, however since the listing for Moniek has only the year I think this could possibly be an error. I have seen other instances in the database where a single number or letter has been changed to another, however all the other information for the other people with similar names is the same, leading me to believe that this may have been an error due to handwriting or any other number of things.

In the case of Mendel, I noticed that the two lived in two buildings, in similar apartment numbers. For example:

In the listing for Menddel Halbersztadt, his addresses are listed as:
-FRANZ 57 15
-ORZRKOW
-A relocation (WYM) on 27.8.42 to HOLZ 24.

- In the listing for Moniek Mendel Halbersztdat, his addresses are listed as:
-FRANZ 57 (similar to the first's listing of FRANZ 57 15)
-HOLZ 24 1 (similar to the first's listing of HOLZ 24)
-A relocation to FRANZ 28 on 19.7.44

Due to the two similarities in address, and the close birthdate, I believe that these two are the same person and the discrepancy comes due to a clerical error.

I absolutely agree. Further evidence that you are right is that there is an entry for Mendel Halberstadt (one "d" in Mendel and no "z" in Halberstadt) that lists his birthday as 1929 and gives the addresses as FRANZ 57 and HOLZ 24 7. This entry also includes the undefined date of 5.11.1942 (perhaps a change of address?). Good catch! NOTE: If Moniek Mandel was really alive and changing addresses in the ghetto on July 19, 1944, that would mean that he survived all of the deportations to Chelmno and most likely was deported to Auschwitz during the ghetto liquidation. Keep searching for evidence that he was sent to Auschwitz and/or other camps!