Gleitman family collection

Joseph Gleitman was born in Boleslaw, Poland on November 10, 1920. He was the third child of seven to parents David and Lilly Gleitman. His siblings were: Smuel, Simon, Henry, Leibish, Feigl, and Rusza. The Gleitmans originally owned a grocery store, and a lot of their business was done on credit. When the local factory closed and many local workers lost their job, the grocery went bankrupt and everything was confiscated to cover due taxes. The Gleitmans then moved to Sławków, which was a resort town. The family observed Shabbat, and spoke Yiddish at home. Joseph did not consider himself a good student, and the Jewish students would sit together in the back of the room. They would be harassed regularly for being Jewish. Joseph did not have a formal Jewish education, but he did belong to Gordonia, a Zionist youth organization, and hopes of getting to Palestine. Joseph did not finish school because he had to work to help support the family. After the German invasion of Poland, the bridge going in to Sławków was blown up. Evacuating refugees were checked to see if they were Jewish. The Jewish Committee appointed young men (including Joseph) to dig out the corpses of Jews who were shot and thrown in the river and rebury them in the Jewish cemetery. In 1941, the Gleitmans were forced into the Sławków ghetto, placed under curfew, and wore forced markings on their clothes. People were sent from the ghetto to camps or as forced laborers. Henry was sent to Gepestof in 1940. The other Gleitmans remained together in Sławków, until the ghetto was liquidated on June 10, 1942. Many of the residents were sent to the nearby towns of Bedzin and Sosnowiec, and others were deported. The family was separated – Joseph was sent to Sosnowiec for a few days before being sent to Königshütte where he had to move heavy barrels. His parents were likely sent to Auschwitz and killed upon arrival – he never saw them again. Joseph was then transferred to Gross Sarnes, another slave labor camp where he worked road construction. Because of what he saw in the camp, he became less religious even though he participated in the Jewish holidays. After a year he was sent to Gross Rosen and then Dyhernfurth I, a sub camp of Gross-Rosen, making bricks for a private company for 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. Joseph was then sent to Dyhernfurth II, where he also worked in road construction building a road from Breslau to Berlin, and then after a few months he was sent to Langenbielau I concentration camp. Where he worked in a machine shop and made ammunition parts. After a year in the camp, they were liberated by the Russians on May 8, 1945, and Joseph weighed only about 100lbs. After liberation, Joseph went to Reichenbach, where the survivors occupied the German houses because the Germans fled. He was sent to a flour factory to help manage it and also worked for the local government. Joseph met fellow survivor Sura (Sally) Lazega from Bedzin. She survived Auschwitz (prisoner number 53469). After her liberation from Auschwitz, she was sent to Czechoslovakia, and then Reichenbach, where she met Joseph. They were married in Langbilau in July 1945. Joseph and his brother Henry were reunited after Joseph met the Hochberger brothers who had survived and were liberated with Henry. Joseph later testified in the war crimes trials. Sally and Joseph remained in Poland until 1957. They first settled in Tel Aviv, and then immigrated to the United States in March 1958, settling in Brooklyn, NY.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Joseph Gleitman

Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015 by Joseph Gleitman.