Auschwitz, almost

In 1944, The Polish Underground up rose against the Germans. This underground army was made up by Jews and non-Jews alike who had escaped from the Germans, had gone into hiding in the forest, and planned to overthrow the Nazis. This year was chosen because it was thought that the Russians were coming to liberate the lands controlled by the Nazis. While the Poles knew they alone could not undo the Nazi regime, they were sure that with Russian help, the Germans would not stand a chance. The Russians, as history tells us, never came. The Germans destroyed 75 percent of Warsaw, the biggest city in Poland. Once they had destroyed it all, they either killed those remaining in the city or sent them to cattle trains to be taken to Auschwitz.

When the Nazis started screaming for all the people to get on the trains, the Poles, most of whom did not know about Auschwitz, rushed to obey the orders. Bob and his family paused, however. They knew where it is they would be sent. They kept back until they saw a car open on top. They rushed to it. 100 yards from Auschwitz, Emil, Bob's soon-to-be step father, lifted Bob, who at the time was about nine years of age, so that he could unlatch the roof door of the car. He did. The family and he jumped out of the train and ran to a farmer's house. They told the farmer they had been part of the underground uprising in Warsaw against the Nazis and he took them in as heroes.

The Nazis knew people had escaped from the cars. When they went looking for Bob and his family, they did not find them, though, because they were very well hid underneath the carpet under the stairwell in the farmer's home. The family was in hiding from 1944 until early 1945 when they were liberated by the Russians.

While one would think that with liberation, life became nice and rosy for Bob and his family, that was not at all the case. In 1945, Poland became Communist and the Jews, again, were not liked by the Communists. From Poland, the family had to migrate first to Checkoslovakia and then from Checkoslovakia to Western Germany. In Western Germany, they became Displaced Persons (DPs) and went to American camps (Bob made sure that we understood these were "good camps").

In January 1947, after more than one year of being a DP in W. Germany, the family came to the United States. They had family in Pittsburg who agreed to straighten out all the paperwork and sponsorships required by the U.S. government for Holocaust survivors (not called that at the time) to enter the nation legally.

Bob and his brother entered school. Bob was 12 years old and this was the first time in his life that he was going to go to school since the Nazis had invaded Poland right at the time when Bob was supposed to have started school. The brothers had gone into school in March and by September, they already knew how to speak English well. Bob would later attend Carnegie Mellon and graduate with a degree in Civil Engineering. He worked as a Civil Engineer for many years. When Bob wanted to do something different with his life, he decided he would go back to school and get a teaching credential. In 2007, Bob graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a Master's in Education. He currently teaches math at Opportunities Unlimited Charter High School, an African-American and Latino charter high school in Torrence, CA.

Bob and the love of his life, Judy were married on 23 August 1959. They had three children: Mindy, Ellen and Shiah. Judy and Bob live in Palos Verdes, CA.