Moniek Margulies

"Always try to be on good terms with your family, friends, and neighbors"

Name at birth

Moniek (Moshe) Margulies

Date of birth

05/05/1920

Where were you born?

Podkamien, Ukraine (means “Under the Stone”)

Name of father, occupation

Abraham Wieseltier, Kosher Butcher

Maiden name of mother, occupation

Gittel, Homemaker

Immediate family (names, birth order)

Father, mother, one sister, two brothers

How many in entire extended family?

Mother had two brothers, two sisters; Father had seven sisters, one brother; eighteen first cousins

Who survived the Holocaust?

Me and only one brother, Jacob West (lives in West Bloomfield)

I ran away with a group of young men from Podkamien who worked for the judicial system. We knew the Germans were advancing and would be arresting those who worked for the municipality. I was the oldest in his family. It was a very tearful separation from my family. I remember my father saying to me that he understood that I must flee to save my life. My father said, “Don’t forget you are a Jew”

I kept moving eastward to stay away from the advancing Germans. I eventually wound up in the Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Name of Ghetto(s)

Brody / Podkamien

What DP Camp were you after the war?

Yes

Occupation after the war

Fruit and Vegetable Peddler

Spouse

Riwa Margulies, Homemaker

Children

Gale, director of sales Arlene, medical assistant

Grandchildren