Green wool US Army blanket owned by a Jewish refugee who survived by assuming a Catholic identity

Mark Wisniarski was born on July 23, 1934, in Lublin, Poland, to Olga Waldman, born on March 7, 1904, in Breslau, Germany (Wroclaw, Poland), and Pinkum (Pinio) Wisniarski. The family was Jewish. Pinio was a businessman who worked in the distribution of household linens, chiefly bed covers. In May 1939, Olga and Mark visited her parents, Anna and Meier Waldman, in the village of Szerszeniowce, Poland (Ukraine). Pinio remained in Lublin. A few weeks after the invasion of Poland by Germany on September 1, 1939, the Soviets invaded and occupied eastern Poland, under the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Szerszeniowce came under Soviet control. In 1940, Mark attended the first grade at a Russian school. He learned to speak Russian, Ukrainian, and Yiddish in addition to his native Polish. Mark, Olga, and her parents, Anna and Meier, feared deportation because Meier was a landowner and a beet farmer, and the Soviets planned to turn the land into collective farms. They spent the nights in summer 1940 in the fields outside of the house to avoid arrest by the Soviets. In June 1941, the Germans attacked the Soviet Union, breaking the Nazi-Soviet Pact, and occupied eastern Poland. Mark and Olga’s family, her parents and her brother, Laeb Waldman, and his wife, were deported to the Tluste ghetto (Tovste, Ukraine). The Germans would frequently round up Jewish inhabitants during Aktions for deportation to concentration camps or execution. Mark and his mother’s family escaped Aktions by hiding with 10-12 other Jews in an underground chamber in a nearby stable as well as in barns. Mark recalled being stopped by a German officer while playing outside and being asked to take him to his house. The officer threatened to shoot everyone unless they gave him gold, which they gave to him in the form of gold jewelry that they had hidden. Living conditions were poor in the ghetto and Mark’s grandfather, Meier, died from typhus. Olga corresponded regularly with Mark’s father, Pinio, in Lublin until a letter she had sent was returned in early winter 1942. Mark remembered his mother telling him that his father was dead. The family considered options for escape because they feared they would eventually be caught during an Aktion. Olga’s family decided that Mark and Olga had the best chance for escape because they did not look Jewish and spoke Polish well, which would allow them to pass as Polish Catholics. Olga obtained false papers for $800 for herself and Mark. Mark’s new name was Marcian Winiarski. In winter 1942, after 4 months in the ghetto, they escaped to Podhajce, Poland (Pidhaitsi, Ukraine), where they joined Mark’s uncle, Israel Waldman. Israel was an engineer and Olga worked as his secretary in spring 1942. They became afraid that they would be recognized and decided to go to Czortkow, Poland (Chortkiv, Ukraine), and then to Lvov, Poland (Lviv, Ukraine), where they separated from Israel. Olga made marzipan candy and Mark sold the candy, as well as cigarettes he obtained through trade, in the park to support themselves. Olga became skilled at candy making and received accounts in local candy stores. Mark attended the fourth grade at a Russian school. Mark and Olga became involved with the Catholic Church in their neighborhood. Mark took catechism classes, volunteered to be an altar boy, completed his first communion, and went to confession regularly. They were liberated by Soviet forces in late summer 1944. Mark and Olga continued to live as Polish Catholics because they were afraid of attacks against Jews. Mark’s uncle, Israel, rejoined them in Lvov after the war. In summer 1945, Mark, Olga, and Israel were sent by the Soviets to Bytom, Poland, where they no longer concealed their Jewish identities. Israel destroyed Mark’s papers and awards relating to his Catholicism. They were supported by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (Joint) and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). These organizations helped them leave Poland for Germany via Czechoslovakia. Mark, Olga, and Israel stayed in a camp for 6 weeks where Israel met his wife, Sophie. They learned that Mark’s father, Pinio, had been killed in Majdanek concentration camp during the Holocaust. On September 9, 1947, they arrived at a displaced persons camp in Worth an der Donau, Germany, and started the process for emigration to the United States because Mark’s great-uncle and great-aunt, Bernard and Ester Baer, lived there. They were told by Joint and UNRRA that they had to go to the Neu Freimann displaced persons camp near Munich, Germany, on August 1, 1948, to meet U.S. immigration quotas for displaced persons. The German quota was larger than the Polish quota for U.S. immigration, so Olga obtained forged papers showing that she and Mark were German. Mark had learned German and began learning Hebrew in the camp. He attended a German school for a few months until their U.S. papers arrived. Their viasas were arranged by Oga's cousin, Frederick Baer. Baer was a US prosecutor at Nuremberg and oncve fo his motives for takng the assignment was so that he could go to Germany to search for surviving relatives. Mark and Olga emigrated to the United States on March 5, 1949, on the General W. G. Haan. They settled in South Bend, Indiana, and Americanized their surname to Wisen. Mark’s uncle and aunt, Israel and Sophie, emigrated to Canada. Mark received his medical degree from Indiana University. He then served as a neurologist for the US Army in Germany for a few years, then retuned to the US and established a private practice. Mark married Linda Hanes on July 8, 1960, and they had 4 children. Olga, age 92, died on January 4, 1996. Mark, age 70, died in 2005.

Olga Waldman was born in Breslau, Germany, (Wroclaw, Poland) on March 7, 1904, to Anna and Meier. She married Pinio Wisniarski and they had one son, Mark, born in Lublin, Poland, on July 23, 1934. Pinio sold household linens and bedcovers. Olga and Mark were visiting her parents in Szerszeniowce when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939; Pinio had remained behind in Lublin. A few weeks later, while Olga and Mark were with her parents, the Soviet Union occupied the town which was in eastern Poland which had been designated Soviet territory under the Nazi-Soviet Pact. The borders were closed and Olga and Mark remained in Szerszeniowce where Mark began first grade. Olga and her parents were afraid that they might be deported because her father was a landowner and beet farmer and the Soviet Communist government would want the land for a collective farm. During the summer of 1940, they spent their nights in the fields to avoid arrest. In June 1941, Germany broke the Nazi-Soviet Pact, invaded the Soviet Union, and soon occupied Szerszeniowce. Olga, Mark, her parents, and her brother, Laeb, and his wife were deported to the Tluste (Tvoste, Ukraine) ghetto. There were frequent Aktions when the Germans would arrest large groups of people for deportation to concentration camps. During these round-ups, the family would hide with a dozen or more people in underground burrows in a nearby stable and barn. One day, Mark was discovered alone by a German soldier who told Mark to take him to his house. The soldier then threatened to shoot everyone unless they gave him gold; they had some jewelry which they handed over to him. Living conditions were harsh in the ghetto; hunger and disease were widespread and Olga’s father, Meier, died of typhus. Olga had been corresponding regularly with Pinio in Lublin. But in the early winter of 1941, a letter that she had sent him was returned and the family believed that he was dead. The family decided that Olga and Mark had the best chance for survival outside the ghetto, as they could pass for Polish Catholics since they did not look Jewish and were fluent in Polish. Olga was able to obtain false papers for herself and her son and they left Tluste after four months. They traveled to Podhajce, Poland, where they met Olga’s brother, Israel. Israel was an engineer and Olga worked as his secretary. At some point they became afraid that they had been recognized and they left for Czortkow and then went to Lvov, (Lviv, Ukraine) hiding in barns along the way. In Lvov, they separated from Israel. Olga began a trade making marzipan which Mark sold on the street. Soon she began to get regular orders from local candy shops. Mark attended the fourth grade and they both became active in the Catholic Church. Mark became an altar boy and received his first communion. In the late summer of 1944, Lvov was liberated by the Soviet Army. Olga and Mark were afraid of retaliation and attacks against Jews after the war, so they continued to live as Polish Catholics. Israel rejoined them in May 1945 after the war ended. That summer, they were repatriated by the Soviets to Bytom, Poland, where they reclaimed their Jewish identities. Israel destroyed Mark’s awards and papers referring to his Catholicism. With the assistance of the American Joint Distribution Committee (Joint) and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), they left Poland for Germany via Czechoslovakia. In one camp, where they lived for six weeks, Israel acquired a wife, Sophie. On September 9, 1947, they arrived at the Worth Donau displaced persons camp in Germany and began the application process for visas to the United States, where Olga had an aunt and uncle, Bernard and Ester Baer. On August 1, 1948, they were transferred to the Neu Freimann DP camp near Munich, Germany, to fulfill US immigration quotas for displaced persons. The German quota for visas was much larger than the Polish quota, so Olga obtained forged papers that identified them as German. Olga and Mark emigrated to the United States on March 5, 1949, on the ship, General W.G. Haan. They settled in South Bend, Indiana, and Americanized their surname to Wisen. Her brother, Israel, and his wife emigrated to Canada. They learned that Pinio had been killed in Majdanek concentration camp. The rest of her family also perished. Mark married Linda Hanes in 1960 and they had four children. Olga passed away, age 92, on January 4, 1996. Mark died on May 2, 2005, age 70.

The blanket was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by Linda Wisen, the wife of Mark and the daughter-in-law of Olga Wisen.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Linda Wisen