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Names Not Numbers
Menachem Warshawski
Menachem Warshawski
Micky Warshawski was born in Pabianice, Poland, in 1928. He had two older sisters and a younger brother. He lived in a town near Lodz where his extended family lived. His father was very religious and there was a house of prayer on their property (Gehrer Shtiebel). He went to a religious school, but antisemitism was always prevalent among the non-Jews.
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On September 7th 1939 the family went to Lodz to spend the Sabbath with their extended family. Micky left early for services to play with some of the other children and on the way, he saw a religious Jewish man lying on the ground being beaten by two Nazi officers. The Nazis dipped the man’s hat in blood and wrote “JUDE” (Jew) on his forehead. Micky ran back home to warn the rest of his family not to leave the house.
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They organized a prayer service in the house instead.
When they came back to their home the synagogue was destroyed. The Nazis forced the Jews to destroy everything and turn it into a stable. They had to move out of their home into the ghetto in which they organized in the town.
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There was a typhus epidemic in the ghetto and his father, who was trained as a medic in the Polish army, got a license to buy medicine from outside the ghetto. The most seriously ill had been put in the hospital, but then the ultimatum was given that they had to build their own hospital. They went door to door looking for bedding to set up.
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The Nazis collected sewing machines from the houses and people were forced to sew uniforms for the SS. The men were often taken out to work. Food was scarce and expensive; food was typically smuggled into the ghetto. They also tried to organize some a school in the ghetto.
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Eventually, the Nazis decided to close the ghetto and move everyone to the ghetto in Lodz. The extended family on Micky’s mothers’ side, as well as an orphan cousin, came with them. His father decided to stay with the sick people in the hospital. Unfortunately, the sick people were thrown out of windows into trucks to die.
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The Nazis separated men and women in Lodz. Micky lied and said he was 14 years old. They ripped his younger brother away from him, who, along with the other children were gassed in a van by exhaust fumes. His father and the hospital staff from his town joined them.
In the Lodz Ghetto, they learned that his father’s family was decimated due to starvation.
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In 1944 they liquidated the ghetto. Micky traveled with my mother and two sisters for three days without food. When they arrived at the train station, they were put in cars heading to Auschwitz. Micky was immediately separated from the women.
In January 1945 he was sold to a construction company in Gleiwitz. They built roads and were forced to pull wagons as if they were the horses. Two Nazis walked on each side with a whip.
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They snapped the whip, the wheels turned, and ran over Micky’s knee, ripping it apart. He had to lie there until the end of the day and was then taken back to the camp. Dr. Nikolai Sebastian was a Hungarian medic who was placed in the camp because the Nazis found out he had a Jewish grandfather. Dr. Sebastian did what he could to treat Micky’s knee; he bandaged his knee using clothes.
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When Dr. Mengele came to inspect, Dr. Sebastian hid Micky so he would not be killed.
They were then put on a march further into Germany because the Russians were coming. They made it to Blechhammer, Germany and were liberated by the Russians. Out of 20,000 only 2,000 survived.
Micky decided to go back to his home. He walked through many countries, but eventually made it home. His house was still there, but it had been taken over.
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Micky joined the Hagannah. They sent him to Fano, Italy for maritime training and getting an engineering license. He was then sent to Israel, but the British then sent them to Cypress. When the U.N. approved, he was allowed to go to Israel to join the Navy. He served on the first Israeli Navy ship and at age18 and was a chief petty officer trained in underwater demolition.
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Micky finished his service and found a relative in Canada. He went to Canada and then continued to Los Angeles and got a degree in aeronautics. He then went back to Canada but eventually returned to Israel to work for El Al. On the ship back from Israel, he met a girl who wanted to live in the states. He married her and they have one son and a granddaughter.
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The End
Menachem Warshawski interview at Boca Raton Community High School in school year 2023-2024
Boca Raton Community High School
