Religious Holiday Observances

This theme focuses on the ways in which survivors observed Jewish holidays in the ghettos and camps.

Morris Ostreicher

Jewish Holocaust Survivor

Morris talks about spending Rosh Hashanah—the holiday commemorating the start of the Jewish New Year—in a labor camp in Frankfurt an der Oder in 1944. He recalls pleading with the camp barber not to shave his hair, because it was Rosh Hashanah.

Gender: Male
DOB: July 27, 1910
City of birth: Strabicovo
Country of birth: Austria-Hungary
Ghettos:
Sevlus (Czechoslovakia)
Went into hiding: No
Other experiences: Concentration Camps: Markstädt (Germany), Märzbachtal (Germany), Auschwitz (Poland), Frankfurt an der Oder (Germany)

 

  • Morris Ostreicher

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Morris talks about spending Rosh Hashanah—the holiday commemorating the start of the Jewish New Year—in a labor camp in Frankfurt an der Oder in 1944. He recalls pleading with the camp barber not to shave his hair, because it was Rosh Hashanah.

    Gender: Male
    DOB: July 27, 1910
    City of birth: Strabicovo
    Country of birth: Austria-Hungary
    Ghettos:
    Sevlus (Czechoslovakia)
    Went into hiding: No
    Other experiences: Concentration Camps: Markstädt (Germany), Märzbachtal (Germany), Auschwitz (Poland), Frankfurt an der Oder (Germany)

     

  • Ruth Brand

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Ruth talks about the decision to fast on Yom Kippur—also known as the Day of Atonement—in Auschwitz II-Birkenau as a form of resistance.

    Gender: Female
    DOB: 1928
    City of birth: Cuhea
    Country of birth: Romania
    Ghettos: Dragomiresti (Romania)
    Went into hiding: No
    Other experiences: Concentration camps: Auschwitz II-Birkenau (Poland), Bergen-Belsen Germany); Displaced persons camps

     

  • Nechama Ariel

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    While in hiding in Poland, Nechama chose to sneak into the ghetto so that she could celebrate Rosh Hashanah, pray with other Jews, and hear the shofar being blown. She recalls the atmosphere in the ghetto and her interactions with family and friends who were living in the ghetto.

    Gender: Female
    DOB: September 10, 1929
    City of birth: Wlodzimierz
    Country of birth: Poland
    Ghettos: Wlodzimierz (Poland)
    Went into hiding: Yes
    Other experiences: Displaced persons camp

     

  • Rita Hilton

    Language: English

    Jewish Survivor

    Rita describes the clandestine celebration of Kol Nidrei services on Yom Kippur in the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. She remembers it to this day, especially during Kol Nidrei services on Yom Kippur.

     

    Gender: Female
    DOB: Jul 22, 1926
    City of Birth: Warsaw
    Country of Birth: Poland
    Ghettos: Pabianice (Poland), Warsaw (Poland)
    Went into Hiding: No
    Concentration Camps: Auschwitz I (Poland), Auschwitz II-Birkenau (Poland), Bergen-Belsen (Germany)

     

  • Esther Jungreis

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Esther explains how cigarettes were obtained in her barrack in exchange for a shofar. She remembers the joyful feeling upon hearing the shofar blowing during a celebration of Rosh Hashana- the holiday commemorating the start of the Jewish New Year- in the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp.

    Gender: Female

    DOB: Apr 7, 1936

    City of Birth: Szeged (Hungary)

    Country of Birth: Hungary

    Ghettos: Szeged (Hungary)

    Went into Hiding: No

    Concentration Camps: Bergen-Belsen (Germany), Kasztner Transport

     

  • William Stern

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    William recalls the joyful celebration of Simhat Torah-the holiday marking the completion of weekly Torah readings- with Rabbi Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe, holding a Sefer Torah (Torah scroll) - in the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. The celebration took place even though the barrack was surrounded by German soldiers.

    Gender: Male
    DOB: Jul 2, 1935City of Birth: Budapest
    Country of Birth: Hungary
    Went into Hiding: No
    Concentration Camps: Bergen-Belsen (Germany), Kasztner Transport

     

  • Jacob Jungreis

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Rabbi Jungreis remembers the ritual circumcision, Brit Milah, performed on a baby eight days after his birth in front of the Holy Ark at the synagogue in the Szeged ghetto. Jacob relates that rather than a joyous occasion, it became a sad one in which the quorum of ten Jewish men—a Minyan—cried bitterly and pronounced that “now his fate is sealed.” The baby, however, survived the war and later became a Hasidic Rabbi in Williamsburg, New York.

    Gender: Male

    DOB: Feb 4, 1933

    City of Birth: Derecske (Bihar, Hungary)

    Country of Birth: Hungary

    Ghettos: Szeged (Hungary)

    Concentration Camps: Bergen-Belsen (Germany), Kasztner Transport

     

  • Stefan Einhorn

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Mr. Einhorn remembers the observance of Yom Kippur- also known as the day of atonement-at the Schwientochlowitz Concentration Camp. He explains how the candles were made and of the use of potatoes as candle holders. He recites the Jewish prayers chanted quietly and so emotionally by the prisoners in the camp. He believes that even G-d was crying with them.

    Gender: Male
    DOB: Feb 2, 1916
    City of Birth: Bochnia (Poland)
    Country of Birth: Austria-Hungary
    Ghettos: Bochnia (Poland)
    Went into Hiding: No
    Concentration Camps: Mauthausen (Austria), Trzebinia (Poland), Gross Rosen (Germany), Schwientochlowitz (Poland), Auschwitz II-Birkenau (Poland)

     

  • Manfred Strauss

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Mr. Strauss remembers the observance of Shabbat in Buchenwald as a form of spiritual resistance. The prisoners continued to chant the Jewish prayers even under the threat of death.

    Gender: Male
    DOB: Jan 15, 1922
    City of Birth: Langendiebach (Germany)
    Country of Birth: Germany
    Concentration Camp: Buchenwald (Germany), Prisons: Hanau (Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, Germany)
    Fled Nazi-controlled territory: Yes