Holocaust Remembrance
I was born on April 18, 1923 on a farm in Brzeznice, a small town outside of Debica, along the Weilopolka River to Chaim and Rooza Haber. I was one of nine children. My town was down the road from the Pustkow Concentration Camp.
My father, Chaim, was a farmer and my mother Rooza (Reizel Warowitz) took care of our family of nine. My grandmother Bleemah (Bloomah Warowitz) lived with us. Prior to marrying my mother, my father was married to Devorah who died in childbirth and had a daughter named Channah- my half sibling. Channah and her family lived with us for a while too. My other siblings were, Henry, Pat, Sarah, Oskar, Golda, Kenny and Alex.
The fate of my siblings during the Holocaust:
Channah Holander-(half sibling, with a husband and six of eight children)-Perished
Henry (Heinriech)-1909-1943 Perished
Pat (Pescha)-1910-1942 Perished
Sarah-1911-1942 Perished- (Married Elie Ausenberg who survived but had three sons who perished, Reuven, Joseph and Chaim)
Oskar-1913-Dentist (survived with his wife with false identity papers provided by a priest from the church in the town)
Golda-1915-1942 Perished
Kenny -1921-(survived, immigrated to Westchester in 195 and became a kosher butcher. He married and had a son)
Sidney -1923-(survived, immigrated to NY in 195 and became a dental technician. I married Kathe Koln and had two children)
Alex-1925- (survived, married and had two children in Brussels Belgium)
My family lived on a farm in a small house near the railroad tracks. My house did not survive the war since it caught fire from cinders that came off of the train. Many times, I chased the train with my pants in my hand to get to school. Later, when I was not allowed to attend school anymore, we had a teacher live with us. We spoke Yiddish in our home. Holidays were celebrated at our house with many friends and relatives joining us.
My paternal aunt, also named Reizel, lived in a nearby town, Zavadow. We would ride bikes to visit cousins with our nieces on the handle bars. Channah, my oldest sister lived in a nearby town, Pustkow, and that allowed us to see a lot of each other. We were born uncles due to the big age difference. I remembered baking matzah in our house for Passover.
My mother Reizel and maternal grandmother Bleemah (Bluma) and all of my sisters, Pat, Sarah and Golda, were taken to Mjadanek and killed in 1942.
My dad, Chaim Leib died of a heart attack in 1939 and was buried in a cemetery in Debica. (I believe his headstone is still there).
My brothers Henry and Alex and I were taken to nearby Pustkow, a Labor/Concentration camp, for slave labor. My brother Henry was shot in one camp for using an extra piece of metal he found to make a pin for himself. I was sent to Pustkow in 1942. Then I was sent to Sendziscow until early 1943. From Sendziscow I was sent to Mielec working on parts for Henkel until the middle of 1944. Next, I was sent to Leitmaritz to build ammunition for three months. Finally, I was in Ulm making parts for Messerschmitt airplanes or Henkel until liberation from Dachau in 1945. I did not have a number tattooed on my arm, but the letters KL were tattooed on the top part of my wrist.
My brother Kenny went to Russia, hoping things were better there and ended up in a Labor Camp there for the duration of the war until liberation.
After the war ended, I did not go back to Poland because there was nothing there for us. After liberation I spent time in Schwandorf, Germany at a Displaced Person camp with my brother Alex before finding my brother Kenny. Soon we located and then joined our older brother Oskar and his wife in Belgium, where she had family that survived. We spent time together until my oldest brother Oskar, his wife Frieda and their son Henri left to live in Israel in 1949. My brother Alex met a Belgian woman, Myriam, married and stayed in Brussels. Kenny and I each had sponsors to immigrate and arrived in the United States on July 7, 1953 on the SS United States. My maternal uncle Nathan Warowitz sponsored me to come to the United States. I lived with my uncle and aunt in Washington Heights until I met and married Kathe Koln on March 3, 1957 at Yeshiva University in Manhattan in New York City. Incidentally, in addition to sharing the same birthday, April 18th, we also arrived in the United States on the same day, July 7th, but different years. A relative suggested that I anglicize my name from Samuel to Sidney. My wife and I honeymooned at the Waldorf Astoria and then went to Europe. Nine months later our daughter Carol was born and three years later, our son Howard was born. Howard had Down Syndrome and my wife and I were dedicated to enriching his life and those of others with developmental disabilities, although sadly, he passed away at age 26. Since I had worked with my brother Oskar, a dentist, I learned the skill of being a dental technician and that is what my life career occupation was.
My wife Kathe predeceased me in 2009.
Sidney passed away just before Chanukah in 2012 and is survived by his daughter Carol, son-in-law David and three grandchildren, Jonathan, Alana and Ari.
Reflections of Sidney by his Daughter Carol:
Sidney was a sweet, generous, kind, gregarious, hardworking man whose family was very important to him. He was easy going and always had a joke to tell, clean or dirty. As with many survivors, he cherished the family he had left following the war. Cousins, no matter how distantly related, were close and we visited with them often. His brothers were also very close to each other, seeing each other as often as possible.
He did not talk about his experiences during the war. He had nightmares about them. He did share his adventures of survival with his brothers and his close friend in Schwandorf . Some of those adventures included bartering with the American MPs, trading on the black market and landing in jail. Although his friends were all immigrant survivors, it was only later in his life, that he joined survivor groups at his synagogue. One friend shared a story that Sidney and his brother saved his life in camp by hiding him under the table so he could get some much needed rest from the two jobs he had in camp. If he were to fall asleep, he would have been killed. He considered Sidney a brother.
In a speech given in front of City Hall in New York City on Yom Hashoah Sidney told his story in one paragraph;
“I am Sidney Haber, a Survivor. My family owned a farm and we lived in a small village in Poland. When war broke out, my oldest brother was taken into the Polish army when Poland fell he came home. Another brother went to Russian and the rest of us stayed on the farm until 1941, when we were dispossessed. We were fortunate and were housed by a Polish neighbor until 1942. My older brother, the youngest and I were separated from my mother and three sisters. My mother and sisters were sent to Majdaneck and we never heard from them again. My brothers and I were moved to the camp of the nearest city. My mother’s last words to us were, “Maybe because we were good to others, we will be destined to survive.”
Our story is no different from that of most survivors. We suffered all the depravations of being in Concentration Camps. Our oldest brother was shot and killed.
After the war we were able to find each other and we are living in the United States. We survived because we were very fortunate, not because we were smart. I am thankful to Hashem to be alive and have a beautiful family.”
The Haber family around 1930. Sidney is the shaven short child, second in on the left.
The Haber family in 1940. Sidney is the second in on the left.
Sidney (on the left) in front of the DP Camp. 1946
This is Sidney’s sports membership card while he was in the DP camp
in Schwandorf 1946-7.
Picture of the team at DP camp in Schwandorf
Mielec Camp, May 14, 1943
Dear Mr. Sklarzeviski, You must be very surprised that after one year we are sending you a sign that we' re alive. We are forced to ask you a favor because we are destitute and hungry.
We live in a camp now and the situation is critical. Most important for us, we lost one brother, Henry, because he died of malnutrition and he was sick. (In actuality he was shot by the guards for having a piece of metal he took from the factory).
Now we ask you for help. If you have dentist tools, send it to us with the messenger to the camp. If you have other items tell us if my brother took them or you have them.
Please give him everything because you can trust the messenger completely. You can give him cash and food. He is a nice person, my friend form school. How is life in Breznicia?
Did you have any news from Oskar (his brother who was a dentist) because we do not have any news from him. We wait for good results from you and we send you and your wife regards. Milek, Lojzek and Dolek (Sidney, Alex & Dolec)
Addressed to Sklarzeviski, Near the Flour Mill Breznicia, Poland
Sidney Haber
