Holocaust Survivor

Jessica Chapman

English 101

Mr. Neuburger

March 16,2013

Holocaust Survivor

Malka Baron

Malka Baran was born in Warsaw, Poland.  Malka’s Aunt was the secretary at a private school so Malka was able to attend for free. The school consisted of 1^st through 6^th grade. Polish was the spoken language but Hebrew was also taught as well as Latin in the 5^th grade. Malka studied English on her own time, privately before the war. She walked to school in all weather conditions, forty minutes one way. She read poetry with her friends before school. Malka’s favorite thing to do was read, specifically novels about women becoming teachers. She loved children and wanted to be a nursery school teacher. Malka lived in a one room apartment where the living room, bedroom, and kitchen were all the same. Bathrooms were downstairs in the courtyard. She had electricity and  telephone, her father printed tickets for the movie houses so she would walk to town with him on Saturdays and attend movies for free. 

Later Warsaw was part of the ghetto, consisting of over 42000 Jews. Malka prayed every night thanking for her family and asking that they are kept safe. Her family celebrated  Passover, but were not involved in all things religious.

                When Germany invaded, Malkas school was closed and her and her family were forced into working hard labor. Her mother was the first to be executed when they were separated and forced to leave the ghetto. Her Father and brother were later killed in another work camp. Malka was sent to work in an ammunitions factory where she got very sick and was sent to get better with other people that had typhus. When that camp was liberated, Malka and some of the friends she had made decided to live on their own and one of the soldiers provided them food. Malka worked different jobs and one of those jobs was developing pictures. Malka took a train to vachchite were she would later meet her husband Morris. They were separated when she went to Israel to become a teacher and he and his family went to America. They stayed in touch with each other for six years then were married in Israel. When her immigration papers were finalized they moved to New York together were she continued her education and had two daughters.

"When i was still very sick, i didn't care if i lived or died." -Malka