Schindler's Listed by Mark Biederman

Author:Mark Biederman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781644690109
Publisher: Academic Studies Press
Published: 2019-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Berlin: 1946

After making their way to the American Joint Distribution Committee displaced persons apartment house at 87 Potsdamer Chaussee, Hirsch, Sally, and her mother Felicja filled out the required survivor registration cards. They were told that they would only be able to be accommodated for a few days. Berlin was being overrun with refugees, the clerk said. Aside from the many Jews fleeing Poland, Berlin was also being flooded with ethnic Germans who had been expelled by the Polish government from the former eastern provinces. The provinces were ceded to Poland as a provision of the international peace agreement. Germans from East Prussia, Silesia, and Pomerania were arriving daily by the train load, the clerk informed them.

Hirsch, still dirty from his all-night trek after jumping from the rail car, was more than happy to leave Berlin as soon as possible. He envisioned that any moment a band of bad tempered Russian policeman would be bursting through the door to arrest him. He told the clerk he needed a meal and a shower and would be ready to leave immediately.

The clerk told them that there was a new displaced persons camp just completed in the Bindermichl section of Linz, Austria, and there was also a large food distribution warehouse located there and it needed workers. Sally would also easily find employment because of her ability to speak English. (Sally was one of the few Polish school girls who studied English as a child).

After making plans to leave the following morning, Sally, Hirsch, and Felicja were given a room for the night. Hirsch was ecstatic that the train would be departing from the suburb of Potsdam so he didn’t have to venture though the main Berlin station.

The following morning a nervous Hirsch, along with the rest of the family, boarded the bus to the Potsdam station. He was very relieved when he arrived at the station and saw that the soldiers patrolling the station were wearing white stars on their helmets instead of red ones. (Potsdam was in the American zone of occupation.) The train left Potsdam without incident and arrived in Linz twelve hours later. From the Linz station, Hirsch, Sally, and Felicja took a bus to Bindermichl.

The Bindermichl displaced persons camp was made up of large cement block houses and had a school, kitchen, and numerous workshops. It accommodated 2,500 people. Hirsch was assigned to work in the food warehouse and Sally was sent to work in the camp administration office as a secretary. Felicja mostly stayed at home since she suffered numerous physical ailments. Most problematic were the numerous gallstone attacks. Gallstones are a common complication for people who have subsisted for years on a starvation diet, like that of a concentration camp prisoner.

Sally and Hirsch worked hard at their jobs and also at trying to establish the semblance of a normal married life. It wasn’t easy, but they persevered. Sally set up their little apartment in Bindermichl to make it her version of a homey residence. Unlike many of her survivor friends who rushed into motherhood, Sally decided not to have children right away.

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