Olczak family photograph collection

Mojżesz Michał Olczak (1907-1971) was born Mojżesz Rajzman on January 24, 1907 in Zamość, Poland to Gula Bajtel Rajzman (née Bajtel) and Zachariasz Rajzman. Mojżesz and his two sisters, Sabina (born 1912) and Osnas (born 1920) lived in Zamość, Poland. Their father, Zachariasz Rajzman, worked for his father-in-law, Urys Bajtel, in grain wholesale business. Sabina and Osnas Rajzman were publically hanged. Zacharias and Gula Rajzman also perished. Urys Bajtel (d. 1932) was a wealthy grain merchant. He had nine children: Fajga (born 1877); Gula (born 1878); Etla (born 1879); Rajzla (later Rajzla Hertzberg, b. 1880); Mindla (born 1883); Mojżesz (born 1890); Izak (born 1895); Haja (born 1905); and Sara (born 1906). Izak Bajtel immigrated to Palestine during the 1920s. Rajzla Bajtel Hertzberg survived the war in Kazakhstan, USSR. Fajga Bajtel and Etla Bajtel left Poland before the war. Urys Bajtel died in 1932. Five of his children: Gula, Mindla, Mojżesz, Haja and Sara perished with their families. Early in the spring of 1941 the Germans established an open ghetto around Hrubieszowska Street and the first deportation from Zamość, Poland took place on April 11, 1942 (on the eve of Passover). The entire Jewish population was ordered to gather in the city's market, whereupon gunfire was directed at the crowd killing hundreds on the spot. About 3,000 Jews were forced to board waiting trains, which took them to Belzec death camp. From May 1 to 3, 1942, about 2,100 Jews from Dortmund, Germany, and from Czechoslovakia were taken to Zamość. Almost all of them were deported to Belzec on May 27 and murdered. The third mass deportation started on Oct. 16, 1942. All Jews were again ordered to gather in the city's market, and afterward were driven to Izbica, some 15 1/2 mi. (25 km.) from Zamość. Many were shot on the way, and the rest, after a short stay in Izbica, were deported to Belzec and murdered. In this deportation the Jews offered passive resistance and hundreds went into hiding in prepared shelters. The Germans brought in Polish firemen to open the shelters by destroying the walls and removing other obstacles. Several hundred Jews were discovered in hiding and imprisoned for eight days in the city's cinema hall without food or water; then all those who were still alive were brought to the Jewish cemetery and executed. Mojżesz Rajzman fled from Zamość to Lvov, which was under Soviet administration. In Lvov he met and married Stefania Estera Gibersztajn, who was originally from Warsaw. In June 1941, soon after the German invasion of the USSR, the Rajzman family, which at that time included a baby Ludwik (b. June 21, 1941), was deported to Rudnya, near Krasnoarmeysk. The baby died during the transport due to the harsh conditions. Mojżesz and Stefania worked on a collective farm (kolkhoz) and on October 10, 1943, their son, whom they named Ludwik, was born. In March 1946 the Rajzmans repatriated to Bielawa, Poland and after two years they settled in Warsaw. Mojżesz Rajzman changed the family name to Olczak. In 1967 Ludwik Olczak left Poland and settled in Stockholm, Sweden. His parents joined him. In 1971 Mojżesz Rajzman Olczak traveled to Israel to visit his remaining family and to retrieve family photographs. He died on his return journey. Stefania Olczak died in 1991. Ludwik Olczak married Ina Ingeborga Swiatycka in 1969. Ludwik works as a computer consultant and his wife, Ina is a teacher. They have two sons: Martin Olczak (born 1973), a writer and Patrik Olczak (born 1975), a computer specialist.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Aveda Ayalon

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

Ludwik Olczak donated the Olczak family photograph collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005.