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Dolly Rabinovich

Glimpses of my childhood, the danger of Holocaust and survival of faith. My name is Dolly (Shandy) Rabinovich. I was born in Berehoves (Beregszasz) Czechoslovakia to an upper middle class orthodox Jewish family. My father Solomon Spitg was a successful wholesale and retail flour merchant, who in addition rented vineyards during wine season and produced wine for sale.

We lived a tranquil peaceful life in a large beautiful house. A plot of land next to our house my father donated to a religious organization, where a beautiful synagogue with stained glass windows was built, it still stands there today and is used by the few remaining Jews in our town. Some years ago some family members traveled there, and saw its neglected condition, but intact.

My parents hosted many distinguished Rebbes the Munkatch Rebbe; Minchas Eliezer, the Satmar Rebbe; V’Yoel Moishe and others.

I  was a happy child, played a lot with my brothers and sisters, going to school, having friends, vacationing in the summer, visiting grandparents who lived out of town and having a wonderful time with them. There are so many happy childhood stories I could write about. However in March 1944 it all ended. 

Shortly after the Nazis invaded our town, my happy childhood life and the life of the jews in our town and other towns, changed dramatically to the worse.

The officials confiscated our businesses and the properties. We painfully watched how the German S.S loaded trucks full of our merchandise and took them for the use of their army. Needless to say, no argument was made for all the goods my father owned, and paid taxes on.

On March 1944 the S.S and the Hungarian police ordered the town’s Jewish population to pack up , to take only the minimum of essentials and leave our home, with the pretense that well be taken to a working camp. The feeling of panic, uncertainty befell us.

We had to leave all our holy sacred books my father cherished, valued, and loved, our silverware we used on Sabbat and Holidays, the china, porcelain, paintings and furniture, rugs and everything else. My mother was foresighted and with the help of my sisters, Suzie and Edith worked hastily to hide her jewelry, her diamond ring, wedding ring, bracelet, broch, necklace, my fathers gold watch, some of her mother Hollanders inheritance and hid them by sewing them into coat hems, shoulder pads, cuffs, telling us we will use these valuables only in exchange for life saving purposes. 

And as, my whole family and all our towns and neighboring village jews were taken to the town’s brick factory, renamed the “Ghetto”. The conditions in the Ghetto was * We ate, slept on the floor, in open view of all other jewish families. When it rained the floor was wet and muddy from the rain seeping into the building. We slept huddled together to keep us warm. With hundreds of grief stricken families, we began to realize what the Nazis had reduced us, these upright law-abiding Jewish citizens, businessmen, working people, doctors, lawyers, rich and poor, simply because of our Jewish faith. 

To comfort the many children, elderly, disabled, from the anguish and devastations, i volunteered to assist the nurses*, to help keep the children occupied and helping with changing diapers.

At the end of May 1944, little did we know that the worse is yet to come. The Gestapo took us from the Ghetto to the railroad station, shoved us 80-100 people into the waiting cattle wagons like animals, they bolted the doors with metal bars that locked us in. There was only room for standing or tightly sitting on the floor. We turns sleeping in sitting positions. An elderly man died in our wagon, they covered his body, that the children should not be frightened to death. Also a young woman gave birth to a baby in our wagon. Children were crying for water of which was little.

With such conditions, we were on our way to the hell of Auschwitz Birkenau, the death camp, and its gas chambers, where millions of jews were gased and burned in those circumstances. 

As we arrived toAuschwitz, the S.S soldiers ordered us to leave all our luggage and belongings right there, it will be returned to us later. My father was clutching only one item under his arm, his bag with the holy Phylacteries (Tefillin) and prayer shawl (Tallis) that he would not part with. The S.S guard snatched it from him, threw it to the floor. My father begged him to let him keep this one religious item. The S.S answered “Where you are going, you will not need it” I did not know then what he meant, unfortunately I know now. 

It is very painful to write and relive these inhumane experiences, but I think it’s necessary and important as fewer and fewer of us Holocaust survivors are still alive because of our age.

As the selection and separation from parents, families, children started the famous “Dr. of death Dr. Mengele” with a motion of his thumb pointing to the left or to the right selected who is to go to the gas chambers (disguised) as showers, where instead of water flowing from the shower had the Gestapo discharged poison gas, killing all the selected man, young woman with babies in their arm, children, sick and elderly people. Unbelievably, with a flick of the S.S finger all the above mentioned, and my dear parents, sisters, their children and so many more family members, plus millions of Jews were wiped out. Their bodies thrown into the crematorium to burn. The nauseous odor, smoke coming from their burned bodies was enough to want to die. Need I say more what the Germans did to all those innocent souls at Auschwitz and other death camps. I think it’s all documented in history.

Dr. Mengele pointed to my mother and me to go to the left, after walking a short distance my mother asked me where my sister (Esther Devoiry) and sister Charny and sister inlaw Zlaty are. I answered they went to the other side, we will meet them soon. My mother let go of my hand and said Shaindela go run after them. “Hashem” blinded Dr. Mengales eyes when  crossed over from left to right. No one was allowed to cross from left to right. “Hashem” and my mother saved my life. It was the last time I saw my dear mother. I did not even have a chance to kiss, hug her and say I love you, mommy.

Dr. Mengele selected the young able bodies to work. They shaved our hair, gave us striped prison uniforms, tatto-ed our arms with numbers (replacing our names) to dehumanize us.) I was now called #A6889 as were all others who did not go to the crematoriums, but were deemed fit to work. Early every morning we were lined up for head count. One morning I was quietly saying ’Moide Ani’ (the morning prayer) the S.S saw my lips moving, he yelled at me, asking who are you cursing. I hesitated what to say and repeated I,I, then the girl next to me intime said, she is only reciting a poem. That girl saved me from a brutal beating or worse.

My sisters Suzi, Edith and I along with many more young women were assigned to work at the (Bregsenka) railroad area. Where all the luggage, personal belongings or the daily arriving Jews were piled up. There were mountains and mountains of valises, bundles, boxes, packages and all those personal belongings were confiscated from us Jews, now the property of the Nazi Germans. We were ordered to separate items into bins, containers, baskets, etc. clothing, shoes, fur coats, pocketbooks. And separate bins for the more valuable items, silver items, again, golf and other valuables; jewelry, rings, watches, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, pearls, anything with diamonds, money, banknotes, etc. to put into separate bins. We were also ordered to rip open cuffs, shoulder pads, coat hems, and to look for anything hidden in them.

With tears in my eyes, I remembered, oh my G-d, my dear mother hid and sewed her jewelry in these places. Frantically I began to look for our luggage, but it was like looking for  a needle in a haystack. The Gestapo hoarded millions of dollars worth of jewelry and other valuable items daily, all of them belonging to those innocent, unfortunate jewish people, like my own family. I write colomns, books of grief and disaster, the inhumane conditions, the suffering we endured during the Holocaust, a deliberate genocide committed by the german nazis, i dont think that in the history of mankind such a genocide of 6million innocent jews people like the Holocaust ever took place. 

Let the Holocaust deniers, look into my eyes, talk to me as a living survivor, I will tell them of the facts what I saw and lived through. And not their invented fictitious stories they say about the Holocaust. If these Holocaust deniers wifes and babies in their arms, their parents, sisters, brothers, grandparents, their grandchildren, were gassed, their bodies then burned in the crematorium, or shot to death, their bodies thrown into mass graves never to see them again? Would they still be holocaust deniers?

To make my history some what short i will leave a lot out of the genocide, the deliberate destruction, the pain, the hate we endured, emotionally and physically and financially. 

On January 18, 1945 my 2 sisters, and sister inlaw, I, and thousands of young women were on the death march, leaving Auschwitz. We were forced to march on foot all day and night, without food, water, in a cotton dress, a thin blanket, and wooden clogs. We marched without any rest. Anyone of us who set down to rest on that cold wet snow road was shot dead by the S.S guards.

The road and ditches were full of young dead bodies who could not make the march. I was frozen, tired and wanted to sit down on the road to rest. My dear sisters, Suzi and Edith, knowing what the guard will do, what will happen if I sit down, they held me up and literally dragged me the rest of the march. B”H once more my life was saved.

Those of us who made it alive to Ravensbruk , (another death camp) were half dead, we arrived late at night, I collapsed in the open courtyard and fell asleep. When I woke up early in the morning, there were dead bodies all around me. I cannot describe the sight I saw or how I felt, it was above and beyond horror and despair. 

As the allied armies were advancing the Gestapo still had time to transport us who were still alive, to Neystat Gieve camp. Starving from hunger, craving for some food, I pleaded to a guard for a slice of bread, he looked at me with disgust and spit at me. Late one night I snuck out from the barrack looking for some potato peels or other discarded food at the Gestapo kitchen garbage cans. A S.S caught me, and beat my skin and bone frail body mercilessly. I don’t know how long I laid there in pain and agony, but somehow I managed to crawl back to the barrack on my hands and feet.

This is not a happy story to read, however, this is not a story, this is real.during the ghetto, Auschwitz and other concentration camps, this was the life I, ad millions other innocent Jews had to endure, in pain, anguish, suffering, and deep distress.

With “Hashem’s help on May 2, 1945 our camp was finally liberated by the allies. We looked like human skeletons, dead people brought back to life through a miracle of Hashem. We walked like zombies, retarded, disabled people. After gaining some strength and health, the search for surviving family members began.

Wandering from Poland, Germany to Hungary, we heard one brother B”H survived and is looking for us. After roaming these countries we finally reached our hometown, Beregszasz.

We found 4 or 5 gentile families living in our house. As we mentioned our family name, Spitz, they were not happy to see us return and stopped us from entering our house, saying; we live here now and this is our home.

We heard of instances of returning survivors being shot and killed, because whoever occupied their home now thought the Jews would reclaim their property and so they simply killed them. Frightened once again, we did not even attempt to enter our house, but left in a hurry to Buda[est and continued searching for our surviving brothers, and hoping, asking Hashem to find more surviving family members. Boruch Hashem, we found 2 brothers, Shmerke and Shaya, alive.

I am asking for an answer?! Where was the president of America? Where was the Pope? Where were the billions of people of the world? To allow and tolerate this genocide, murder of 6 million innocent Jewish men, women, and children? They were gassed. Their bodies burned in the crematoriums and how many other jews were shot and killed, their bodies thrown into mass graves. The people’s silence was deafening, unwilling to hear our cries for help, to save us, our children and babies.

Hitlers Germany called themselves the enlightened, intellectual, educated, human race. They brought shame to the world and shame to the meaning of the word educated human race.

I will never forget or forgive he barbarie slaughter of 6 million decent, innocent humans by the Nazis, simply because of our faith. My dear parents, 2 young married sisters, their children, their young husbands, my 16, 18, and 20 year old brothers were killed in the Holocaust. But with Hashem’s help some of us miraculously survived, the germans confiscated millions and millions worth of Jewish property, and stole like robbers, loads of valuables, of artwork, jewelry, gold, silver, money, bank notes, swiss bank accounts, all belonging to us Jews, but to enrich themselves.

At the end of December 1945 with the help of the Jewish organization (HIAS), who assisted Holocaust survivors at the D.P (Displaced Persons) camp, Furnwald, Germany, where i stayed until 1949. This organization also helped me get documents and passage by ship to sail to America and start a new life.

To be continued,

Dolly Rabinovich

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