In 1939, Przemsyl was occupied by Russia and became under Russian control. We were now Russian citizens. In 1940, the Russians took me to work in central Russia. Among my jobs was working in a coal mine. The rest of my family stayed behind and were killed by the Germans when they later occupied Przemysl.
My father was an Austrian soldier in World War I. He had been wounded and died a natural death while under German occupation. There was much hunger. I learned from a neighbor after the war, that my mother was sent to Belzec death camp. Two of my brothers died while under German occupation, the other two perished in a concentration camp.
I came back home after the war, but no one was there. We heard about the Kielce pogrom, and we panicked. We felt we should leave Poland. I went to Silesia to join the Bricha. I went from Austria to Germany and stayed in a DP camp from 1946-51, Wezelar near Frankfort, Germany.
The UNRAA arranged for me to go the United States. They asked if I had any relatives, I said no. I was sent to Denver, Colorado for a few years, from 1951-54. I went to Detroit to visit a friend on my vacation. I saw that there were more opportunities in Detroit with all of the automotive factories. I took drafting classes in the DP camp and later became an automotive designer.
After I arrived in the United States, I remembered that I had cousins in Antwerp, Belgium. I wrote to them and years later visited them in Antwerp. One of my cousins’ sons lives in Detroit, Rabbi Meyer Feibush.