Franka Iglewicz

"There should never be another Holocaust again. It was inhuman."

Name at birth
Fraida Weintraub
Date of birth
02/12/1921
Where were you born?
Where did you grow up?
Lodz, Poland
Name of father, occupation
Shmul Weintraub, Businessman, raw materials
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Nacha Weintraub, Housemaker, dry cleaner
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents, Lola, me, Malka, Rosa and Leon
How many in entire extended family?
53
Who survived the Holocaust?
17 all together, all four of my siblings and I survived.
In 1939 we moved in with my uncle in Lodz who had a store selling winter shoes.  From 1939-1944, we were in the Lodz ghetto, we had a cleaners. We ironed uniforms and my mother cleaned spots. Our food was rationed.  Everyone worked twelve hours a day, six days a week.  People stole for food; we had to look the other way.  If you went out and you were caught you were stripped naked, embarrassed, and humiliated.  We hid in a house behind a false wall and dresser.  The Germans threatened to shoot if we didn’t come out, they took my mother to jail.  We siblings were sent to Auschwitz by train, it took four days.  
 
After Auschwitz, we were sent to Mauthausen.  I don’t know how we survived.  My sisters banded together, an older man brought us bread.  We made screws for bombs. We worked in an ammunition factory and also washed toilets.  We stayed together for warmth, and knitted mittens, and scarves.  We spent five months in Bergen-Belsen.  We spent eight days on a wagon and were given bread.  The camp was under water when we arrived.  We volunteered to work in the kitchen, and were given bread that was stolen by the some gypsies.  I caught typhus.  My sisters held me up for inspection when I had typhus.  They saved my life.  
 
When the English liberated the camp, out of 500 girls that we came with, only 200 survived.  We told the English that the guards were criminals; they locked the commander in the freezer.  At Bergen-Belsen, we adopted a woman who became one of our sisters.  
 
After the war my sister who moved to Israel died from depression.  My brother in Sweden is involved in Holocaust education.  I am still angry at Germany; I hate them even today, I would never go to Germany.
Name of Ghetto(s)
Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)
When did you come to the United States?
1956
Where did you settle?
Detroit, Michigan
Occupation after the war
Zeman's bakery, knit shop worker
Spouse
Henry, Machine operator, Ford Motor Company
Children
Natalie, teacher
Grandchildren
Two
What do you think helped you to survive?
My sisters helped to protect and feed me.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
There should never be another Holocaust again. It was inhuman.
Interviewer:
Charles Silow
Interview date:
04/04/2011

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