Student Profile: Benjamin Sieradzki

This was the only match I could find for Benjamin Sieradzki, even when using the fuzzy and sounded settings, as well as partial first name (B*). Fortunately, it is an exact match for a student with birth date in 1927.

Very good research. Well done.

It looks like Benjamn moved to Am Bach 15 in late May 1941.

His mother was probably Sura. She was born in 1890, making her 37 when Benjamin was born. She also lived at Faehnrich 15 and Am Bach 15 21. She must have been in ill health, because she was deported to Chelmno during the Gehsperre Aktion on September 12, 1942.

His father appears to have been Szmul Hersz Sieradzki. He was born January 16, 1885 and worked as a Kaufman. He lived at Faehnrich 15 4 before moving to MITTEL 35. On May 27, 1941, he moved to Am Bach 15 21. On September 12, 1942, he was deported to Chelmno with his wife. Was he sick, too?

Benjamin had a sister, Blima, who was four years older than him. . His other sister, Chana, was seven years older than him. Both were students, and lived at the same addresses.

Great research. Thanks for filling I. The details on his family. It's sad to think of Benjamin being orphaned at age 15.

While the camps to which Benjamin was deported are based on the index record for his testimony, the dates are based on secondary sources and are assumed to align with his experience. Though it s possible that they may to be an exact match.

Again, good job cross-referencing the testimony information with secondary sources. You should listen to the testimony to fill in any gaps. Otherwise, well done!

According, to the USC Shoah Visual History Foundation catalogue, we know that Benjamin was sent from Lodz to Auschwitz (August 1944) and from there to Hannover-Stocken and o. To Ahlem where he was liberated. According to secondary sources:

"A transport of almost 1,000 Jews from the Lodz ghetto arrived via Auschwitz at a Neuengamme sub-camp at Hannover-Stocken on September 7, 1944. German authorities deployed them at forced labor in the Continental Rubber Works factory. In October 1944, the SS sent 80-85% of the prisoners to the Neuengamme main camp as "unfit to work." By the end of November, at least 50 of them had died. On November 30, the management of the Continental Rubber Works transplanted the factory to the mine tunnels at Hannover-Ahlem, while the SS moved the surviving prisoners there. Conditions in the tunnels at Ahlem were particularly bad, and prisoner mortality soared. In January 1945, the camp authorities transferred at least 200 Lodz Jews back to the main camp at Neuengamme as "unfit to work". On April 6, 1945, the SS evacuated approximately 600 prisoners from Ahlem to Bergen-Belsen. Over 220 prisoners remained in Ahlem because they were too weak or sick to make the journey. U.S. troops liberated them on April 10, 1945. Almost one quarter of these prisoners died within weeks after liberation. It is also likely that most of the prisoners evacuated to Bergen-Belsen did not survive the war. All told, at least 450 prisoners died at the Hannover- Stocken and Ahlem subcamps. Many of them were Jews from the Lodz ghetto."

I like the way you have cross-referenced the testimony catalogue record with secondary sources to fill in likely details. Good job!