Harold Perlstein
"We need to be sure that Israel is secure or we may have another Holocaust. Be proud of all we Jews have accomplished in spite of all the adversity we have endured. Keep Judaism alive. Treat people as you would like to be treated."
Name at birth
Hershel Perlstein
Date of birth
02/05/1914
Where did you grow up?
Sarny, Ukraine
Name of father, occupation
Joseph Perlstein,
Grocery store business
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Dvora Sher Perstein,
Sold good to farmers from the grocery store
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents and five children: Chaya, Sara, Toby, Motel and Harold
How many in entire extended family?
60
Who survived the Holocaust?
Just me and my sister Chaya, who settled in Israel
We all lived together with both sets of grandparents. I went to school until I was twelve years old when my father died. I had to quit school so I could work to help support my family.
I was 25 when the war started. We were in the ghetto in Sarny. The Germans came with guns and told us that we would be killed. They gathered everyone at a big grave pit. We were in the pit when I saw other people running away. I realized that I should run like some of the others when I saw the Germans shooting in the air when people ran out of the graves.
I hid in the barn at a Ukrainian’s home. After a few weeks they found me and allowed me to stay in their attic. After a few months they were afraid they would be killed for hiding me so they took me to join the Partisans, the Russian underground army.
The Partisans gave me a gun and took me to be on guard duty and to some battles. My job was to take any Germans we caught to the Russian people. I did not kill any Germans but took them to the Russians. Later I witnessed eleven Germans being hung for their war crimes. I stayed with the Partisans since I had nowhere else to go until the war ended
To learn more about this survivor, please visit
The Holocaust Memorial Center Oral History Collection
Name of Ghetto(s)
Where were you in hiding?
I hid in a Ukrainian’s home for a short time and then they took me to join the Russian underground army. After the war, the woman whose home I lived in came to visit me and I gave her some gifts to thank her for her kindness.
What DP Camp were you after the war?
Yes, for three years in Germany
Where did you go after being liberated?
I went back to Sarny
When did you come to the United States?
My wife and I came to the United States in 1949
Where did you settle?
Detroit, Michigan
How is it that you came to Michigan?
I wrote to my cousin, Harold Sher and asked him for papers to sponsor us to come.
Occupation after the war
Janitor, bar business, later nursing home administrator
When and where were you married?
I had a wife and young daughter who were killed in the war. I married my third cousin, Basia Gadzuk, after the war in December, 1945. We divorced in 1979 and soon after I married Lisa.
Spouse
Beatrice and later Lisa,
Beatrice, homemaker and later ran the bar business. Lisa, homemaker
Children
Debra Feldman, Rita Salama, and Bonnie Levin
Grandchildren
Ten grandchildren: Lisa Feldman Horowitz, Barry Feldman, Jay Feldman, Eric Feldman, David Salama, Evan Salama, Jill Salama, Julie Levin, Dana Levin, Lauren Levin and One great grandchild
What do you think helped you to survive?
I took one day at a time and I relied on G-d to make the war end, hoping I would survive. We waited for the good day when the war would end.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
We need to be sure that Israel is secure or we may have another Holocaust. Be proud of all we Jews have accomplished in spite of all the adversity we have endured. Keep Judaism alive. Treat people as you would like to be treated.
Interviewer:
Charles Silow
Interview date:
06/03/2014
Experiences
Survivor's map
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