Leo Beals

"To be tolerant and kind to other people because intolerance and hatred have sown the seeds of hatred, this unfortunately brought on the Holocaust."

Name at birth

Lipa Bialostocki

Date of birth

10/21/1921

Where were you born?

Mlawa, Poland

Where did you grow up?

Mlawa, Poland

Name of father, occupation

Matis, Fish business, seeds seasonal business, merchant

Maiden name of mother, occupation

Etta Laska, Homemaker

Immediate family (names, birth order)

Parents, Smaja, Leo, Joseph and Usher

Who survived the Holocaust?

My brother Joseph and me

My family was transported from the ghetto to Auschwitz. When we arrived at Auschwitz , we went through the Selection. My father, brother Joseph and I were selected to live as prisoners in a forced labor camp at Auschwitz. My mother and my younger brother, Usher age 14, were sent to the gas chamber. If my brother would have been with us, maybe he would have survived.

My father was soon taken away to a subcamp of Auschwitz, where, I found out later, he was beaten very badly and became very ill. He was taken to the “sick building,” a hospital of sorts, from there was another Selection and he was taken away to his death.

My brother and I and others worked on adding buildings onto Birkenau Death Camp, in horrible, subhuman conditions. The hygiene was terrible, the food minimal.

My brother Joseph and I were together. From Auschwitz we were taken with others on a death march. We were taken to a town with a large soccer stadium; we were there for about two to three hours. My brother came to me and said, “Lupa, I want to run away.” I said “Are you sure, where are you going to go? Where are you going to hide, who will give you food?” He said, “One of us will survive.” We both survived and were reunited after the liberation.

Name of Ghetto(s)

Mlawa

Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)

Auschwitz Birkenau / Ebensee / Mauthausen / Melk

Occupation after the war

Shipping clerk, sales, self-employed

When and where were you married?

1953 in USA

Spouse

Arlene Spear

Children

Marc Harris and Marcia Etta

Grandchildren

Five: Aaron, Jodie, Marnie, Deborah, and Jared

What do you think helped you to survive?

I was healthy. The brutality of the concentration camp was not easy to cope with unless you were healthy and could take physical abuse. You also had to have the good fortune to be assigned to a labor unit which you could tolerate or withstand. The average life expectancy of a new arrival was only several months. Before you arrived, you had to be fortunate enough not to be selected to go to the gas chambers. I lasted from November 1942 until liberation on May 6, 1945 at Ebensee.

What message would you like to leave for future generations?

To be tolerant and kind to other people because intolerance and hatred have sown the seeds of hatred, this unfortunately brought on the Holocaust.