Lucine Horn

Born 1926, Lublin, Poland

Lucine was born to a Jewish family in Lublin. Her father was a court interpreter and her mother was a dentist. War began with the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, and Lucine’s home was raided by German forces shortly thereafter. Soon after the German occupation of Lublin, Jews there were forced to wear the Jewish badge. A ghetto in Lublin was closed off in January 1942. Lucine survived a series of killing campaigns and deportations from the ghetto during March and April of the same year. Those who held valid labor cards were moved to a new ghetto in April 1942 -- the Majdan-Tatarski ghetto, near the Majdanek killing center. Lucine escaped from Majdan-Tatarski, and eventually made her way to Warsaw where she first entered the ghetto and then went into hiding on the Aryan side.

Describes the Majdan-Tatarski ghetto in Poland.

Thomas Buergenthal

Born 1934, Lubochna, Czechoslovakia

Thomas and his family left Czechoslovakia as harassment of Jews increased. They entered Poland, and registered with the British Consul in Katowice because they had papers to leave for England. Thomas was five years old when Germany invaded Poland. With the outbreak of war, the family was unable to leave Poland and was eventually forced into the Kielce ghetto. The ghetto was liquidated in 1942, and Thomas and his family ended up in a forced-labor camp. Thomas survived a massacre of children in 1944. He and his parents were deported to Auschwitz, where Thomas was eventually sent to the children's barracks. In January 1945, Auschwitz was evacuated as Soviet troops advanced. Thomas and other inmates were forced on a three-day death march to Gleiwitz. They were then transported to the Sachsenhausen camp. Following the Soviet liberation of Sachsenhausen in April 1945, Thomas was placed in an orphanage. He was eventually reunited with his mother, who had also survived, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1951.

Describes the Kielce ghetto, Poland.

Sabina Szwarc

Shlomo Reich

Shulim Saleschutz