Lea Derszowicz memoirs

Identifier
irn621522
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2018.602.1
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Yiddish
  • English
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folders

book enclosure

2

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Lea Derszowicz (1912-1988) was born on 9 December 1912 in Dzików, Tarnobrzeg, Poland to Wolf (1876-1942) and Anna (1880-1942, née Monheit) Eberstark. She had several siblings including Shimon (1902-1943), Eliezer (1905-1943), and Chaim (1922-1943). Her father was a merchant and she was raised in a Hasidic household. Around 1936, Lea married Pinkus Derszowicz (b. 1908 to Leib and Gital Derszowicz) and their first daughter Minia (later Mina Shapiro) was born in 1938. From December 1941-December 1942 Lea, Pinkus, and Minia were in the Dębica ghetto. In December 1942 Lea and Pinkus were deported to the Pustków concentration camp. Pinkus was deported to Auschwitz in March 1943. From 1946-1951 the Derszowicz family resided in a DP camp in Antwerp, Belgium. Their second daughter Gisela (later Giselle Hochstein) was born in 1951, and in December they immigrated to the United States aboard the MV Vulcania. Lea’s parents and siblings all perished in the Holocaust.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Zev Shapiro

Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Zev Shapiro, grandson of Lea Derszowicz.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of two handwritten memoirs written by Lea Derszowicz (née Eberstark) describing her experiences in Poland, primarily in Dzików, Tarnobrzeg, the Dębica ghetto, and the Pustków concentration camp. Her writings chronicle some of her personal background and her family’s experiences during the early years of World War II including life in the Dębica ghetto, forced-labor, relatives searching for family after being separated, dressing as a boy to sneak out of Dębica with the aid of others to procure food to smuggle back in, deportation to Pustków, her brother getting shot for stealing, getting separated from her husband Pinkus and her daughter Minia, and fleeing on a train with the help of a man who helped conceal her identity. Lea began her first memoir in 1947, but found it emotionally very difficult and stopped. She started her second memoir around 1977. Both memoirs are handwritten in Yiddish. Included with the collection is a photocopy of an English translation of the second diary by Lea’s daughter Giselle.

System of Arrangement

The collection is arranged as a single series: Box 1, Memoir, 1947 Folder 1, Memoir, circa 1977 Folder 2. Translation, undated

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: Mr. Zev Shapiro

People

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.