Eugeniusz Rozenblum

Eugeniusz's parents married in 1922 in the Soviet Union, where his father owned a textile mill. Fearing arrest by the Soviets for being "bourgeois," Eugeniusz's parents fled to Poland, where Eugeniusz was born.

1933-39: I was a secondary school student and was preparing to enter university, either in Poland or at the Hebrew University in Palestine. The German occupation of Lodz in September 1939 interrupted my schooling. One month after the occupation, a German soldier came to our door and tried to steal some jewelry. My dog, a Great Dane named Rex, lunged but I restrained him. The soldier threatened to press charges but we convinced him not to. He shot Rex before my eyes.

1940-44: In 1940 the Jews of Lodz were forced into a ghetto. Both of my parents died there. By the age of 20 I was alone. In 1944 I was herded onto a cattle car along with others from the ghetto. After several days, we arrived at Auschwitz. Two weeks later I was sent to the Dachau camp, where I contracted blood poisoning. A doctor told me that he had to amputate my toes. Just before he began to operate, I jumped off the table and ran. I stepped on a large stone and, luckily, all the pus drained from my foot and I recovered.

After the war, Eugeniusz emigrated to the United States. He was the only survivor of the 70 people in his extended family.