Fryda Gurwitz

"FAMILY IS EVERYTHING – DO NOT GIVE UP – AMERICA IS A GOLDEN LAND"

Name at birth
Freydal Rubin
Date of birth
01/15/1916
Where were you born?
Where did you grow up?
Lodz, Poland
Name of father, occupation
David Rubin, Businessman
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Malka Rubin, Businesswoman
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents, four sons, and four daughters
How many in entire extended family?
About 50
Who survived the Holocaust?
My uncle Joseph Rubin, my cousin Philip Basser, and I
I was married before the war to Aharon (Aaron) Kalevach.  I had one son Donni, he was 4 years old.  I was a seamstress in a labor camp outside of the ghetto.  We made monograms and uniforms for the German military.  They paid me with food.  

While I was away, the Germans liquidated the Pinsk ghetto we were in and killed my whole family.  My husband worked for doctors in the Pinsk Ghetto.

I fled to the forest, met up with six other Jews.  Four more Jews wanted to join us, the original six said no, but I threatened to leave with them if they did not take them in, they relented.  

During the day we hid in the fields and swamps looking for food and at night they foraged and cooked potatoes, sometimes meat and bread, but that was scarce.
  
I escaped being in the concentration camps by being a part of the Partisans.
Name of Ghetto(s)
Where were you in hiding?
In the forests around Pinsk
Where were you in the Former Soviet Union?
Pinsk
Where did you go after being liberated?
Brono, Austria
When did you come to the United States?
September, 1947
Where did you settle?
South Bend, Indiana (cousins lived there)
How is it that you came to Michigan?
My daughter lived in Michigan. At the age of 88, I was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer and my daughter and family wanted me to move closer so they could be with me during this time and in my later years. I survived the cancer and made Hechtman Jewish Apartments my new home. I told my doctors that if I could make it through the Holocaust, I can make it through this.
Occupation after the war
Custom tailor
When and where were you married?
March 1945 in Austria
Spouse
Samuel Gurwitz, (Shaya Gurevich), Blacksmith and later a welder
Children
Lillian Rivers, teacher; Norman Gurwitz, attorney
Grandchildren
Four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren
What do you think helped you to survive?
Perseverance and the desire to live and not give up.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
FAMILY IS EVERYTHING – DO NOT GIVE UP – AMERICA IS A GOLDEN LAND
Interviewer:
Charles Silow
Interview date:
04/04/2011

Survivor's map

Fryda Gurwitz

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