Felemajer funeral photograph and Jakub Ekert labor ausweis

Noemi Presser Ekert was born on December 31, 1921 in Lvov, Poland. She was the only daughter of Salomea Sara Gelb Presser and Marek Presser, who was a teacher of Hebrew and German in a Tarbut School in Boryslaw, Poland. The Presser family moved to Boryslaw in 1923 and lived there until Marek died in 1935. In 1938 Salomea Presser re-married to Adolf Dolek Drucker from Drohobycz. Noemi graduated from high school in the spring of 1938 and in the fall of 1939 she started to attend “Akademia Handlu Zagranicznego” (Foreign Trade Institute) in Lvov, where she majored in economics. Noemi was very active in a student theater. In June 1941, during the anti-Jewish pogrom orchestrated by the nationalist Ukrainians, Noemi posed as an Aryan and never wore an armband. Eventually she was forced to clean streets. Noemi’s mother and stepfather had an opportunity to be evacuated to Soviet Union, but choose not to leave Noemi alone. Noemi decided to return to Drohobycz where she worked as a gardener on a farm at the outskirts of town. The farm belonged to Dr. Hellmrich, who employed some 200 young Jewish people. Salomea and Dolek were imprisoned in the Drohobycz ghetto, where Dolek worked as a laborer. At the end of March 1942, the first Aktion took place in the Drohobycz ghetto and 2,000 Jews were deported to the Belzec killing center. The second Aktion, launched on August 8 and lasted nine days, during which Noemi’s parents were deported to Belzec, where they perished. After the deportation of her parents, Noemi posed as an Aryan. She traveled to Lvov and bought false identification papers. Her assumed name was Franciszka Korsan (Frania). Noemi found a job as an office clerk in a Ukrainian-German Export-Import office and rented a bed in an apartment, which belonging to a Volksdeutsche. Her two roommates were also Jewish girls posing as Aryans. One of the girls, Edzia Rubinsztajn, was originally from Drohobycz and worked as a maid for a German officer, whose name was Sokol. At some point, Edzia and the other young woman were denounced by a Ukrainian student and arrested. Noemi sent a telegram to Sokol, who arranged for Edzia’s release. That night, Noemi did not feel safe to return to the same apartment. She went to Mr. Żwawy, a superintendent, who let her stay the night. Noemi later found a job as a nanny for two children in the Antonowicz family household in Bolechów. Bronia Gliksman, another young Jewish woman worked as a maid for the family under the assumed name Zosia. Noemi asked Bronia, “is this a safe place?” indicating that Noemi was Jewish as well. One day, Mrs. Antonowicz slapped Bronia, who reciprocated by slapping Mrs. Antonowicz. Bronia escaped. Noemi did not want to stay with the family without Bronia. In April 1943, she worked in Skole as a secretary, even though she did not know how to type or take shorthand. In August 1944, the Germans started their retreat and Noemi hid in the forest in order not to be evacuated west with the office staff. On October 15, 1944, the Russian Army liberated the area. Noemi wanted to join a fighting unit, and by chance she was reunited with her pre-war boyfriend, Jakub Ekert (1919-1999). Noemi and Jakub Kuba Ekert settled in Krakow, where Jakub finished his engineering studies and Noemi studied theater. She became an actor and a theater director. Their daughter, Rut Ekert, was born in September 1951. Jakub Ekert died in September 1999. Noemi currently resides in Warsaw, Poland, near her daughter and her family.

Jakub Ekert was born in 1919 in Vienna Austria to Ozjasz Ekert and Olga Rotbart Ekert. The family eventually settled in Stryj, Poland with their two sons: Jakub (1919-1999) and Józef (b. 1913) Jakub met and started dating Noemi Presser during their university studies in Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine). Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Jakub was forced to clean the NKVD prison in town and later returned to his hometown. In November 1941, 1,200 Jews were shot in the Holobotow Forest, among them were Ozjasz and Olga Ekert. Jakub and his brother Józef Ekert were selected for forced labor, and they worked on building roads until they could arrange a hiding place. In spring 1943, the brothers were hidden by Walentyna Koliszowa, a Polish woman. They stayed hidden for fifteen months, until their liberation. Following their liberation, Jakub Ekert was reunited with Noemi Presser. They settled in Krakow, where Jakub finished his engineering studies and Noemi studied theater. She became an actor and a theater director. Their daughter, Rut Ekert, was born in September 1951. Jakub Ekert died in September 1999. Noemi currently resides in Warsaw, Poland, near her daughter and her family.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Noemi Ekert

Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Noemi Ekert donated the papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2001.