My shadow box honoree is Chaim Blachman, the picture is a picture of him as a kid. Before the Germans occupied Poland his father owned a hardware store which is why there is a hammer in the shadowbox. Chaim was a student in Poland which is why there is is a Polish report card, a map of Poland, and Polish flag. Also when Chaim lived in the ghetto he worked at a hospital which is why there is a stethoscope. There is wire on the shadow box because Chaim was imprisoned at a factory in Ceztowcha, Poland he worked making German munitions, which is why there is a picture of a bullet.
Chaim Blachman Born: October 30th, 1927 Lodz Poland Forced to live in a ghetto: February 8th 1940 Taken to a labor camp: September 1st 1942 Liberated: April 1945 Position: Father hardware store owner worked as a pageboy in a hospital in the ghetto Family: mom, dad, three brothers and a sister |
“Chaim, they are in the hospital,” David yelled as he ran by the room Chaim was in.
“I wonder what can be happening, it can’t be good,” Chaim replied, trying not to panic.
Fourteen year old Chaim heard people screaming downstairs as he paced the room wondering what to do and what was happening. He imagined the sick and dying were being arrested because they were unable to work. Chaim feared he would be arrested along with them and taken away. Sweat began to form on Chaim’s forehead and palms, and he felt like he was going to be sick. Just as things were quieting down, Chaim heard the loud stomp of the Nazis’ boots thundering up the stairs. Chaim cowered in the corner praying when suddenly a hole appeared in the door where a Nazi was smashing it with the butt of his rifle. In just a few seconds the door was completely destroyed leaving nothing between Chaim and the Nazis. Chaim knew that he was defenseless and couldn’t believe what was happening to him as he was seized by the scruff of his neck by a big German soldier many years older than him. He was dragged down the stairs looking at the empty hospital that had been full just a few minutes earlier. Chaim was shoved into the back of a crowded dirty truck filled with hospital patients. Chaim’s last thought as the truck began to move was if he was ever going to see his family again.
Chaim was born on October 30th, 1927 in Lodz, Poland into a family of seven with five kids. Chaim had three brothers, a sister, and a mom and dad. Chaim’s family lived comfortably in a non-Jewish area of the city. Chaim’s father was a hardware store owner, and Chaim worked in the hardware store after school. Chaim had a good peaceful life until 1939 when Lodz was occupied by Germans.
Chaim Blachman was living in Lodz, Poland in 1939 when the Germans took over and passed anti-Semitic restrictions. In February of 1940, the Nazis forced the Jews to live in an overcrowded and unsanitary ghetto. In the winter the sewage was dumped into the streets because the pipes had frozen, and people could barely breathe because of the smell. Very little food was delivered to the ghetto, and many people starved. Many people died in the streets from starvation, disease, and exposure. The deportations from the ghetto to the concentration camps started in January of 1942, and less food was delivered to the ghetto to try to get people to volunteer to be deported. Those who volunteered to be deported had no idea that they were actually going to the Chelmno death camp to be gassed. Chaim managed to survive the horrible conditions of the ghetto, and was even able to get a job as a page boy in a hospital.
In September of 1942, the Nazis arrested people in the hospital and took them to death camps because the hospital patients couldn’t work. Chaim was arrested along with the sick and dying hospital patients. He was then forced to work at a German munitions factory in Czestochowa, Poland. The conditions in the factory were even worse than in the ghetto. Chaim worked long hours making weapons for the German Army and barely received any food. The Nazis were extremely brutal, and many people were beaten for not working fast enough. In addition to the brutality and starvation, disease was also common because of the lack of sanitation, and many people died of sickness. In January of 1945, many of the people whom Chaim had survived with for years died in an outbreak of typhoid fever. Miraculously, Chaim survived the typhus epidemic and was sent to a concentration camp in Dachau, Germany. Two days before the liberation of the camp, 7,000 Jews were sent on a death march to a camp farther south in Germany. Chaim managed not to be chosen as one of the 7,000 Jews, and the very next day the Nazis left the camp to get away from the war front. On April 29, 1945 Chaim was liberated.
Chaim had a very hard but common experience during the Holocaust of being forced into a ghetto and then being forced into labor. At the labor camp in Czestochowa, Chaim lived through a typhus epidemic. Diseases were common throughout the Holocaust in camps and ghettos because sanitation was so inadequate. A lot of people died of disease, and Chaim was very lucky that he survived. It is a great thing that we are able to hear the stories of Holocaust survivors. By hearing survivors’ stories we are made aware of how cruel humans can be to other humans. Also by hearing about the Holocaust we can try to make sure an event like the Holocaust never happens again.
“I wonder what can be happening, it can’t be good,” Chaim replied, trying not to panic.
Fourteen year old Chaim heard people screaming downstairs as he paced the room wondering what to do and what was happening. He imagined the sick and dying were being arrested because they were unable to work. Chaim feared he would be arrested along with them and taken away. Sweat began to form on Chaim’s forehead and palms, and he felt like he was going to be sick. Just as things were quieting down, Chaim heard the loud stomp of the Nazis’ boots thundering up the stairs. Chaim cowered in the corner praying when suddenly a hole appeared in the door where a Nazi was smashing it with the butt of his rifle. In just a few seconds the door was completely destroyed leaving nothing between Chaim and the Nazis. Chaim knew that he was defenseless and couldn’t believe what was happening to him as he was seized by the scruff of his neck by a big German soldier many years older than him. He was dragged down the stairs looking at the empty hospital that had been full just a few minutes earlier. Chaim was shoved into the back of a crowded dirty truck filled with hospital patients. Chaim’s last thought as the truck began to move was if he was ever going to see his family again.
Chaim was born on October 30th, 1927 in Lodz, Poland into a family of seven with five kids. Chaim had three brothers, a sister, and a mom and dad. Chaim’s family lived comfortably in a non-Jewish area of the city. Chaim’s father was a hardware store owner, and Chaim worked in the hardware store after school. Chaim had a good peaceful life until 1939 when Lodz was occupied by Germans.
Chaim Blachman was living in Lodz, Poland in 1939 when the Germans took over and passed anti-Semitic restrictions. In February of 1940, the Nazis forced the Jews to live in an overcrowded and unsanitary ghetto. In the winter the sewage was dumped into the streets because the pipes had frozen, and people could barely breathe because of the smell. Very little food was delivered to the ghetto, and many people starved. Many people died in the streets from starvation, disease, and exposure. The deportations from the ghetto to the concentration camps started in January of 1942, and less food was delivered to the ghetto to try to get people to volunteer to be deported. Those who volunteered to be deported had no idea that they were actually going to the Chelmno death camp to be gassed. Chaim managed to survive the horrible conditions of the ghetto, and was even able to get a job as a page boy in a hospital.
In September of 1942, the Nazis arrested people in the hospital and took them to death camps because the hospital patients couldn’t work. Chaim was arrested along with the sick and dying hospital patients. He was then forced to work at a German munitions factory in Czestochowa, Poland. The conditions in the factory were even worse than in the ghetto. Chaim worked long hours making weapons for the German Army and barely received any food. The Nazis were extremely brutal, and many people were beaten for not working fast enough. In addition to the brutality and starvation, disease was also common because of the lack of sanitation, and many people died of sickness. In January of 1945, many of the people whom Chaim had survived with for years died in an outbreak of typhoid fever. Miraculously, Chaim survived the typhus epidemic and was sent to a concentration camp in Dachau, Germany. Two days before the liberation of the camp, 7,000 Jews were sent on a death march to a camp farther south in Germany. Chaim managed not to be chosen as one of the 7,000 Jews, and the very next day the Nazis left the camp to get away from the war front. On April 29, 1945 Chaim was liberated.
Chaim had a very hard but common experience during the Holocaust of being forced into a ghetto and then being forced into labor. At the labor camp in Czestochowa, Chaim lived through a typhus epidemic. Diseases were common throughout the Holocaust in camps and ghettos because sanitation was so inadequate. A lot of people died of disease, and Chaim was very lucky that he survived. It is a great thing that we are able to hear the stories of Holocaust survivors. By hearing survivors’ stories we are made aware of how cruel humans can be to other humans. Also by hearing about the Holocaust we can try to make sure an event like the Holocaust never happens again.