In USC Shoah Foundation’s collection of 55,000 testimonies of genocide survivors and witnesses, many different places, spaces and geographies are described in depth by the interviewees. Listening to different perspectives from multiple survivors helps us understand the different dimensions of Jewish life in Kraków.
The survivors you are about to hear from were born in Kraków and share different aspects of their hometown.
About the Interviewees:
Leo Bach (né Silberbach), son of Jacob and Gitla, was born on May 22, 1927, in Kraków, Poland. He had one brother, Karol, and one sister, Anna. Leo’s father owned a kosher butcher shop. When the Germans invaded Poland in September 1939, life changed drastically. In January 1940, Jews were forced to wear a white armband with a blue Star of David. A year later, all the Jews in Kraków were expelled. Leo and his family hid in a small, rural farming town outside the city. In August 1942, the family was forced to move into the Kraków ghetto. In the process, Leo and his father were separated from his mother, sister, and brother. In July 1943, Leo was sent to Plaszow, a labor camp outside of Kraków. He was later to sent to Starachowice, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald and Dachau. The United States Army liberated Dachau in April 1945. In January 1948, Leo immigrated to the United States. After moving to Los Angeles, Leo met his future wife, Evelyn Wexler. They had two children. This interview took place on June 8, 1997, in Cerritos, California.
Edward (Ed) Mosberg, son of Ludwig and Bronislawa, was born on January 6, 1926, in Kraków, Poland. He had two sisters, Halina and Karolina. After the German invasion of Poland, Ed and his father fled to a smaller town to avoid forced labor. Ed and his father were separated, and his father was killed in 1941. Ed returned to Kraków, where his mother and sisters living in the ghetto. After the ghetto was liquidated, the family was sent to the Płaszów labor camp. At Płaszów, Ed fell in love with a Cecile Storch. In 1944, Ed’s mother was sent to the Auschwitz camp complex and his sisters were sent to Stutthof concentration camp; they were all murdered. Ed was deported to Mauthausen camp complex and later transferred to the Linz subcamp, where he was liberated in 1945. After the war, he reunited with Cecile, and they married in 1947. Ed, Cecile, and their newborn daughter immigrated to the United States in 1951. At the time of his interview, Ed and Cecile had three daughters, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. This interview took place on October 2, 2016, in Morris Plains, New Jersey.
Rena Finder (née Ferber), daughter of Moses and Rozia, was born on February 24, 1929, in Kraków, Poland. Rena was an only child and lived near both sets of grandparents. Before the war, Rena attended public school. After the German invasion of Poland, life began to change for Rena and her family. In March 1941, the family was forced into the Kraków ghetto. After two years, Rena was sent to Plaszow, a labor camp near Kraków. Rena worked for Oskar Schindler at the Emalia factory in Kraków, and when Schindler moved his factory to Brünnlitz, in Czechoslovakia, Rena was placed on “Schindler’s List.” After liberation, Rena lived in a displaced persons camp in Linz, Austria, where she married Marcel Finder. They immigrated to the United States in 1948, and settled in Massachusetts. Rena and Marcel had three children and six grandchildren. This interview took place on October 23, 1996, in Framingham, Massachusetts.