Sonia Aisner

"We must never forget what happened. We must be watchful to ensure nothing like this ever happens to anyone else in the world."

Name at birth

Sonia Bicz

Date of birth

09/20/1912

Where were you born?

Lodz, Poland

Where did you grow up?

Lodz, Poland

Name of father, occupation

Berek Bizc, Merchant. He was defrauded of his family property and then became a merchant broker. He was a man of integrity who was known to be a man of his word and trusted by Jews and Gentiles alike.

Maiden name of mother, occupation

Devora Yakabovitz, homemaker

Immediate family (names, birth order)

Parents, five daughters and two sons: Miriam, Sonia, Lodzia, Cesia, Sara, Avram, Leon

How many in entire extended family?

Thirty plus, approximately

Who survived the Holocaust?

My mother and my four sisters survived as well as a few cousins. My mother's brother, who fled to England at the beginning of the war, also survived.

My mother and my four sisters survived as well as a few cousins. My mother's brother, who fled to England at the beginning of the war also survived.

We lived in Lodz on Mariaszynska Street, #10, I think. My father’s mother’s maiden name was Lieberman. In 1939 before the Germans came to Lodz, my father fled to Russia after hearing that the Germans were killing the men, he later returned. My father was religious. He was kind, tall and handsome; he dearly loved his children.

I grew up in a traditional religious Jewish home. On Friday night, my father would go to synagogue and my mother would prepare the home for Shabbos, the Sabbath, with gefilte fish, wine, and home baked Chala (braided bread). It was a nice life.

I was the second oldest daughter. I finished public school, the equivalent of elementary school, and won a scholarship to go on to the Gymnasium. This was like a high school but it was not free. I loved reading and learning; I wanted to be a doctor. My family did not have money and were not able to send me to college. Besides that, in Poland at that time, there was a strict quota for Jews and very few Jews were admitted to college.

I went to work in a textile factory where I was a clerk in the office and handled payroll, billing receivables, and bookkeeping. I lived at home with my parents and siblings and gave my entire salary to the family.

My grandmother’s cousin was a Jewish writer in Lodz, his last name was Broderson. He wrote books in Yiddish and also in the United States. His wife was an artist in the Lodz Theater.

Name of Ghetto(s)

Lodz

Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)

Auschwitz Birkenau / Freiberg (A Sub Camp Of Flossenburg Concentration Camp) / Mauthausen

Where did you go after being liberated?

As the war was ending, the Russians, English and Americans were chasing the Germans out. My mother, sisters and I returned to Lodz to see if my father and brothers survived. The Poles were very anti-Semitic. They said to us, “Weren’t there enough ovens to get rid of all the Jews?” I married my husband in July of 1946. I had my first child in October of 1947 and my second, in May of 1950. I stayed home to raise my children. In December, 1956, I left Poland and went to Israel with my husband and my two daughters. There, I worked as a nurse at the Hadassah Hospital in Beer-Sheva for 2½ years.

When did you come to the United States?

September, 1960.

Where did you settle?

We settled in Detroit, Michigan.

How is it that you came to Michigan?

We had family living in Michigan.

Occupation after the war

Nurse in Beer Sheva, Israel. I worked as a Nurse Aide in Michigan until my retirement.

When and where were you married?

We were married in Lodz, Poland in 1946

Spouse

Sidney Aisner, Electrician