Leon Salomon
" Be proud of being Jewish. Be prepared to fight back. "
Date of birth
02/28/1925
Where did you grow up?
Makow, Poland
Name of father, occupation
Fischel,
accountant, owned a children's wear store
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Johevet
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Five children - Leon was third born. One brother and two sisters. Fishel, Rivka, Chava
How many in entire extended family?
40-50 people
Who survived the Holocaust?
Leon and 2 cousins
Leon Salomon was born in Maków Mazowiecki, Poland and lived there with his family until Poland was occupied by the Germans in 1939. Leon and two of his sisters moved east to Kobylnik to live with their brother, a school teacher who was later killed when the Germans took over the area. In 1942, the Jewish residents of the town were executed by the Germans in a nearby forest. As Leon was being taken away to be shot, he escaped from the guards and hid in the forest. Leon was the only member of his immediate family to survive and eventually joined a partisan group fighting in the Vilna and White Russia area. He joined the Soviet Army near the end of the war and fought with them until he was wounded in east Prussia.
Where were you in hiding?
Forests in Belarus, while there fighting with the Jewish partisans; later fighting with the Soviet Red Army.
What DP Camp were you after the war?
No
Where did you go after being liberated?
Back to Poland, to Lodz to look for survivors,
Where did you settle?
Detroit, Michigan
How is it that you came to Michigan?
In search of becoming an unskilled laborer for one of the automotive companies. At the time the highest paid unskilled workers, in the world, were working for the Michigan automative corporations He was able to secure a job with GM, which he later quit to successfully go into business for himself.
Occupation after the war
Worked for auto company and then was a businessman
When and where were you married?
Brooklyn, NY 1953
Spouse
Esther,
Homemaker
Children
Fred Salomon, podiatrist and teacher. Joyce Salomon, optometrist
Grandchildren
Two grandchildren - Jessica and Tara
What do you think helped you to survive?
Multiple things. Most importantly, the willingness to take chances and to “read” people and circumstances. He was with other Jews in a death march either to be shot by a ditch or to be transported to one of the camps. This occurred while being watched by the armed Nazis. No one knew for certain what our fate was. My father “smelled’ a rat. He ran away from the rest while I was being shot at and missed. He took the risk of being killed immediately. I ran to the nearby forest and hid. Revenge was a -verystrong factor or motivator. One of his beloved sisters told my father to take revenge
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
Be proud of being Jewish. Be prepared to fight back.
Interviewer:
Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archives, University of Michigan-Dearborn
Interview date:
06/18/1990
To learn more about this survivor, please visit:
The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive, University of Michigan
https://holocaust.umd.umich.edu/interview.php?D=salomon§ion=2
https://holocaust.umd.umich.edu/interview.php?D=salomon§ion=2
