Shep Zitler's Story
Shep Zitler had 2 things he and his loved one weren't going to do: get married and have children. He didn't want to have children because he didn't want the children to suffer just because they're Jewish.
In 1939, the war between Poland and Germany started. Poland lost the war in only 16 days. They captured him and his unit and send them to a prisoner-of-war camp. The Jews were supposed to be separated from the Polish, but the Germans couldn't tell the Polish and the Germans apart. They relied on the Polish to tell which are Jews, and which aren't.
Shep was classified as a Lithuanian Jew, since Vilna at the time wasn't at war with Germany. This meant he was sent to a POW labor camp. This saved his life, because other Jewish soldiers were demobilized and sent back to Poland, and almost died. For five years, he was in various labor camps. He belonged to Stalag VIII A, but he did not stay there. It was a good thing, because he would have starved like the Russian POW's because there wasn't enough food to feed them. He was sent to many different places to work. International laws made it so that they had humane conditions, so Germany couldn't force them as slave workers.
Shep was forced to work at an Autobahn near Krems, Austria, where he was forced to load coal for Ludwigsdorf. Since they were Jews, they were singled out for special treatment. The "jobs" were different at Goerlitz, because the Jews there had to clean excrement out of slit latrines with their hands. Only Jews were given the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs.
In 1939, the war between Poland and Germany started. Poland lost the war in only 16 days. They captured him and his unit and send them to a prisoner-of-war camp. The Jews were supposed to be separated from the Polish, but the Germans couldn't tell the Polish and the Germans apart. They relied on the Polish to tell which are Jews, and which aren't.
Shep was classified as a Lithuanian Jew, since Vilna at the time wasn't at war with Germany. This meant he was sent to a POW labor camp. This saved his life, because other Jewish soldiers were demobilized and sent back to Poland, and almost died. For five years, he was in various labor camps. He belonged to Stalag VIII A, but he did not stay there. It was a good thing, because he would have starved like the Russian POW's because there wasn't enough food to feed them. He was sent to many different places to work. International laws made it so that they had humane conditions, so Germany couldn't force them as slave workers.
Shep was forced to work at an Autobahn near Krems, Austria, where he was forced to load coal for Ludwigsdorf. Since they were Jews, they were singled out for special treatment. The "jobs" were different at Goerlitz, because the Jews there had to clean excrement out of slit latrines with their hands. Only Jews were given the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs.
Jeannie Burk's Story
Jeannie Burk was a hidden child. She hid in some woman's house from ages 3 to 5. She never knew who she was, but she let her hide from the Nazis. Her brother hid in a Christian home for boys. As a hidden child, she had no fresh air except the back yard, no toys at all, she had no friends or anyone to talk to, and she had no parents to love her. Some of the neighbors snitched on them, and the Gestapo broke down the door and threw the father into their truck. They wanted to take the mother, but she wouldn't go. She said that they can shoot her here but she would not leave her daughter. He said they'd be back later for them.
Afterwards, they were waiting for the father to come back. There were prisoners of war that would march home, but their father wasn't there. They kept waiting and waiting for their father to come home. Later they learned that his father has been exterminated. He had been gassed in Auschwitz. If she was home when they took her father, she would have been dead too. They gassed little kids instantly.
Her mother died when she was 10, in February 1950. The Union sent money to help the children. They landed in New York and visited the Union Headquarters. They were very nice to them, they even gave a new watch to her and her sister.
Afterwards, they were waiting for the father to come back. There were prisoners of war that would march home, but their father wasn't there. They kept waiting and waiting for their father to come home. Later they learned that his father has been exterminated. He had been gassed in Auschwitz. If she was home when they took her father, she would have been dead too. They gassed little kids instantly.
Her mother died when she was 10, in February 1950. The Union sent money to help the children. They landed in New York and visited the Union Headquarters. They were very nice to them, they even gave a new watch to her and her sister.