Ira Mechlowitz was born in Kobluszowa-Pszykek, a small village in southeastern Poland.  He was the second youngest of five children.  His parents were poor farmers.  They lived in an underdeveloped part of Poland without electricity or indoor plumbing and among Catholic Polish farmers.  Ira attended only Jewish schools until his last year of school, which he spent in a Polish public school.

 Due to their remote location, the family was not immediately affected by the German occupation.  This changed quickly, however, when the Germans confiscated land, which included the Mechlowitz's home and farm in order to create a military zone.  

 

In January 1942, Ira and other members of his family were rounded-up by the Germans and confined in one ghetto and then transported to another.  They were also placed in a labor camp near their home for a period of time.  Unlike other areas occupied by Germany, the ghettos and the labor camp in which he was confined were only lightly guarded and not restrictively enclosed.  He believed this was probably due to the fact that they were located in a sparsely populated, remote area.  This allowed the inmates some opportunity for movement.
 
 Ira managed to escape a number of times just prior to round-ups and shipment for "resettlement."  Some of these escapes were made at the last possible moment, the guards shooting at him as he fled.  After escaping he went into hiding, sometimes in the forest, sometimes staying with former non-Jewish neighbors, or by pretending to be a Catholic Pole.  

 

A solid knowledge of the Polish language and his non-Jewish appearance helped him in passing for a Catholic Pole.  The fact that he had been circumcised was always a concern and actually resulted in him being taken captive at one point.  He cited a number of incidents in which he was aided by non-Jewish Poles, some of whom directly saved his life.
 
 Soviet troops arrived in early 1944 and allowed the then sixteen-year-old to come out of hiding.  He was reunited with his mother and two brothers.  However, his father, older brother, and sister perished.  After he returned home and while living with an uncle, he became aware of numerous postwar abuses and murders of Jews by Poles.  As a result, the remaining members of the family decided to leave Poland.  He went to Palestine and in 1960 immigrated to the United States.
 
 Ira witnessed a number of atrocities during the Holocaust.  He saw the slaughter of Jewish female inmates in a labor camp.  They were shot after being forced to dig their own graves.  He suffered mental anguish over this and other atrocities.  He blamed himself for his sister's death because he was unable to convince her to escape from the labor camp.
 
 Taken from interview from the Holocaust Memorial Center, July 15, 1996, interviewer, Hans R. Weinmann
https://www.holocaustcenter.org/visit/library-archive/oral-history-department/mechlowitz-ira/

 

Move to Israel. I loved Israel because it was my home, especially after the Holocaust.