Howard
Kleinberg
By: Lisette Weinstein
Early Life
 Howard Kleinberg was born in Wierzbnik, Poland
 Wierzbnik is a small village in South-Western Poland.
 He was born into a family of 10 children; he was the
youngest.
(1)
Attempts to Immigrate to North America

In 1928, a relative tried to get his family into New York however,
it was unsuccessful.

He then tried to bring the family to Canada, even organizing
papers and Visas however, the family did not meet the necessary
immigrant requirements.

The family arrived in Warsaw, Poland and quickly discovered that
Howard’s father was not heavy enough to go to Canada, for he
weighed under the required 125 pounds.
(3)
Travel documents for
immigrants going to the
United States
(2)
Immigrants going to North America
His Mother’s Choice

Due to health requirements, his Father could not travel to Canada
so Howard’s mother was forced to decide whether to bring all 10
children to Canada and wait for the Father to get heavier.

She chose to send 4 of his siblings (2 sister and 2 brothers) to live
in Canada, keeping the youngest children in Poland.

However, after the 4 children were sent, the Canadian
Government decided to stop accepting immigrants.
The Closing of Canadian
Borders

From 1929-1939 Canada was going through The Great Depression and
as a result of this they stopped allowing immigrants to enter into
Canada.

This had a much larger effect once the Jews started being prosecuted
because Canada would not accept many Jewish people.

Canada also did not have a refugee policy at the time which also made it
difficult for refugees to flee from Europe and go to Canada.
(5)
Immigration
Ship bringing
people from
Europe to
Canada
(4)
Men in Canada protesting
the Great Depression
Growing Up in Poland
and Anti-Semitism

Growing up in Poland Howard was faced with Anti-Semitism.

Anti-Semitism became more apparent once he began going to school at the age of 6.

Children he would play with were heavily influenced by taking their religious
doctrinarian which gave them very strong opinions about other religions including
Judaism.

As an innocent child he would be called cruel nicknames such as “Christ Killer”.
(6)
An example
of AntiSemitism
(7)
An
example
of AntiSemitist
ideology
The Start of the War

The Germans came into Poland with the intent of modernizing the Polish economy.

The Germans built a large steel complex and used the Jews as their labor force
because they were the only suitable non-paid labor.

The Germans did not finish building the complex until the War broke out.

The Germans used these factories later during the War in order to produce
ammunition and supplies for the soldiers.

This industrialized advantage was one of the many reasons why the Germans were
able to dominate so quickly.
(8)
Nazi
airplane
factory
(9)
Nazi
ammuniti
on
workers
Nazi Tactic: The
Blitzkrieg
 Blitzkrieg means "lightning war". Blitzkrieg was first
used by the Germans in World War 2 and was a tactic
based on speed and surprise. It was unlike any type of
war technique used before which made it so effective.
The strategy was to beat people in strong, short battles.
Germans heavily relied on tanks and airplanes with
this tactic.
(10)
Invading
Nazis
entering
Poland
(11)
German
Tanks
entering
Poland
Restrictions Put on Jews

Once the Germans occupied Poland, restrictions were put on the Polish citizens that
they were forced to adhere to. Several of these restrictions were put primarily on
Jews.

These restrictions took away Polish residents freedom.

Some of the restrictions includes walking on a specific side of the road, paying
respect to the German Soldiers, wearing a Jewish Star of David in order to be
identified and closing up all Jewish Businesses.

Do these restrictions there was limited access to food which in turn made the lives of
Jews much more difficult.
(12)
Destroyed
and Looted
Jewish
Store
(13)
Nazi soldiers
checking a old
woman
Jewish Star of David

The Star of David with the word Jude inscribed in it, was the simplest
way to distinguish Jews.

Once Germany began to occupy various European countries and cities,
they implemented laws and restrictions. One of the main laws was that all
Jews must wear this armband on their clothing at all time. Anyone that
was caught not wearing one was severely punished.

This restriction was first implemented in September 1939 in the occupied
cities of Poland.
(14)
(15)
Anti-Semitic Propaganda
(16)
(17)
This is some of the Anti-SemiticNazi Propaganda which was
frequently displaced on store windows and telephone polls. This
spread the Nazi ideology and ideals.
The Ghetto

The Germans decided to usher all of the Jews into the main square of
the city and called in The Ghetto. This Ghetto did not actually have
gates or walls but if you intended on escaping you would be shot.

The Jews were forced to live in the Ghetto under horrible living
conditions.

Three or Four families would live in a single small house. Houses were
typically filled with twenty to twenty-five people.
(18)
Jews being
rounded up
and forced into
a ghetto
(19)
Centre of the city where the
Ghetto was located
Leaving the Ghetto

On Oct 27, 1942 at 3 am in the morning everyone in the Ghetto was woken up
by blow horns and forced to meet in the center of the Ghetto. There was a
significant turmoil going on as dogs barked and guns were shot.

The Germans began separating people based on their strength. The elderly and
sick people as well as young children were grouped together on one side. While
the young and strong people were grouped and put on the other side.

Howard was separated from his parents as well as his sister for they were placed
in the other group of people. This was the last time he had ever seen his family.

During the separation process people were being shot for no reason all around
him. The healthy, young group was then chased into a section of the city that
was created as a labor camp for the Jews.
(20)
Woman and
Children being
separated into a
group.
The Labor Camps

These labor camps were created in order to house the necessary
labor for the Nazi factories.

Once Howard arrived at the camp, he was forced to give any
possessions he might have on him to the Germans. People were
threatened with the fact that if anyone hid any of their
possessions they would be shot immediately. The Germans then
randomly selected people from the group and shot them without
hesitation to demonstrate the consequences.
(21)
Men lined up an
forced to give up
their possessions
to the Nazis
The Barracks In The
Labor Camps
 The barracks were small building with a sloping roof
they were made of either bricks or wood. Each
barrack was filled with bunk beds for the prisoners to
sleep on.
(22)
The
barracks at
the Labor
Camps.
The Counting Process

In the camps, the Germans were constantly paranoid about prisoner
escapees. This resulted in a counting process in which they would line up
all of the Jews and count them. This was done every few minutes or
hours to ensure that no one had enough time to escape.

The Germans scared the prisoners by threatening that for every person
that is missing or hiding they would choose 20 other prisoners and kill
them on the spot. This created a sense of unity and connection for all of
the Jews because they knew they were all responsible for one another.
(23)
The counting
process
Food in the Labor Camps
 Each person received an aluminum pan in which they carried all
of their food in. Typically they carried their coffee, lukewarm
water, soup and thin piece of bread in this pan. This food was
expected to last the prisoners from morning until dawn.
 As a result of the combination of minimal food and long hours of
labor, peoples health began diminishing and starvation became
prominent.
(24)
Prisoners in
the
concentration
camp
Health and Hygiene in the
Camps
 The largest problem in the camps was the lack of hygiene
and sanitation. The camps did not have proper toilets or
showers. As a result of poor sanitary conditions lice
developed which later carried diseases such as Typhus.
Typhus quickly spread and caused a serious epidemic in
Howard’s labor camp.
 This illness was increasingly difficult to deal with because
the commander of the camp would often bring his dogs
into a barrack and watch people run away. If people did not
move quick enough he deemed them ill and just shot them.
Once Typhus broke out he began increasingly killing more
people because everyone was getting sick.
 Eventually even Howard got sick with the Typhus and
began to feel very ill.
Typhus Epidemic

In the Labor camps diseases easily spread due to the close proximity of people, low
immune systems and the large amounts of bacteria in the environment.

Typhus is a disease predominantly spread by lice or flees. The fleas and lice carry
bacteria called, Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia prowazekii. The symptoms of
Typhus include abdominal pain, high fevers, headaches, vomiting, hallucinations
and rash's. 10 to 60% of people who caught this disease would die.

After the Second World War physicians now were able to use samples of the
diseased prisoners to create a vaccination.

Typhus wasn’t the only disease that rapidly spread through Nazi concentration
camps; Tuberculosis and Typhoid Fever were also present.
(25)
The
Typhus
Bug
A Miracle

Howard had fallen ill with Typhus and was notified that the commander was
going to come check on the camp at 12 AM. Howard was at the height of his
disease and was delirious and could not walk. He knew that if the
commander saw how sick he was, he would be shot. He was at the back of
the line, lying in the snow.

It turns out that the commander was removed from his position because the
SS was worried that he would end up killing off everyone in the labor camps.

The next morning, Howard woke up completely healthy and healed of
Typhus. He believes that there is no other way to describe it other than a
miracle from God.

In 1943, the camp was closed and put into quarantine in order for the Typhus
to properly die out. Once the Quarantine was over the prisoners were allowed
showers and fresh clothes.
News of Victory

Living in the labor camps, the prisoners had very low hope that
anyone would ever defeat the Germans, however that slightly
changed when the news came of an important Allie victory.

The Soviets were victorious against the Germans in the Battle of
Stalingrad in July 1942- February 1943. Hitler wanted to capture the
city of Stalingrad, a very industrialized city and begin his expansion
into the Soviet Union. The Germans were not properly prepared for
the harsh Soviet Winter and eventually had to surrender. This is
considered one of the bloodiest battles in history and resulted in
almost 2 million casualties.

News of this battle brought the prisoners hope that someday they
will be saved and freed from the camps.

The Battle of Stalingrad Video Clip:
http://www.history.com/topics/battle-of-stalingrad/videos#battleof-stalingrad
An Attempt to Escape

In July 1944, there is news that the Russians are only 200 km away
from Howard’s camp. The German personnel became very nervous
which was evident because they began to change into civilian
clothes.

The prisoners stopped going to work in the factories and were told to
stay in the barracks.

The next day when they were being counted, without a previous
organized decisions to escape, 10,000 people began to run to the
barbed wire fence. The rush of people created a hole in the fence and
people began darting into the forest on the other side of the fence.
The German guards were startled and reacted very slowly. However,
once they were able to regroup they began shooting at the hole
killing several people.

The next day, they were told that they were being moved to another
camp.
Auschwitz
 Auschwitz was known as the most deadly execution
camp during the Holocaust. It is known for its mass
killing gas chambers and its burning over. It is
estimated that 1.6 million people were killed at
Auschwitz alone.
(26)
The
entrance of
Auschwitz
Going to Auschwitz
 The next day they were told that they were going to
Auschwitz. Howard was put into a wagon with 100 other
people with no food or water and brought to Auschwitz
after 2 full days of travelling. Upon arriving in Auschwitz
he quickly noticed the smoke looming above the camp from
the burning of human bodies.
 Once arriving on the platform, the group of prisoners is
once again divided into two groups. One group is full of
people that are healthy and the other is for the weak people.
 Howard is told that his group is going to go for a shower.
Howard was aware of the gas showers and how they were
used to quickly execute a mass of people are once.
Thankfully water came out of the water instead of gas.
Life in Auschwitz

Howard and his group then receive uniforms with vertical stripes on
them. They then were told to go to a station to get their prisoner
number. The numbers were tattooed into their skin using a dirty needle
and ink. Howard recollects this experience as the most painful
experience he had to endure (33:28-35:04). Howard’s number was
A18196 and it replaced his name for the remainder of his stay in
Auschwitz, if you were to forget your number you were violently
beaten.
List of People
that were
prisoners at
Auschwitz
(Howard
included)
The Gypsy’s
 After arriving at the Barracks in Auschwitz, Howard
noticed a Gypsy camp next door. The 100’s of
Gypsy’s were in their barracks with their children.
That night he heard piercing scream and dogs barking.
The next day there was not one single gypsy left.
(27)
Group of
Gypsies
A Rare Commodity
 Due to his previous experience as a laborer in an
ammunition factory, Howard was in demand. In particular,
people that were previously in the service industry such as
barbers and shoemakers were wanted. After a few days a
request for an upholster came up and because his father
was an upholster Howard knew what to do. He was the
single person to raise his hand for the position.
 The next day he was taken to a nearby ammunition factory
but instead of being an upholster he worked as a helper for
one of the German workers. He worked on the lay
machine.
 The German worker he helped never spoke to him
however, every day he would give him a piece of bread.
Leaving Auschwitz

By the middle of December the camp was emptied because the
Russians were very close by. Due to the Geography of Poland to
Germany you could not drive West so they packed everyone from
the camp into trains and brought them to Czechoslovakia and
then to Vienna, Austria.

On the travel to Vienna, Howard noticed that the Germans began
to be less strict and even allowed people to put cups of water into
the tiny windows of the train. They hoped that this means that
the war was reaching the end.
(28)
A map of
Austria,
Vienna
included
Mauthausen

From Vienna, the prisoners were then taken to a camp called Mauthausen
which is located in the Swiss Alps. The Germans decided that the prisoners
needed to keep them occupied and clean so they forced the prisoners to take
off their clothes and go into the snow for a freezing water. The Germans then
took the prisoner’s clothes and dipped them into very cold water. He cant
comprehend how he managed to survive such a challenging experience (41:0742:18)

Howard and the rest of the prisoners were then taken to Hanover, Germany to
work in a very run-down factory.
(29)
Entrance of
Mauthausen
Concentration
Camp
Bergen-Belsen

By April, The British were coming very close to Hanover, so instead of letting
the prisoners be liberated the Germans took them to a camp called BergenBelsen.

Bergen-Belsen did not have any food or work and was there for the sole
purpose of killing people off. Thousands of people died as a result of this. The
healthy prisoners were forced to take blankets and use them to pull the corpses
into a pit. Howard remained in Bergen-Belsen for two weeks until news spread
that the German guards had run away. The British liberated the camp on April
15, 1945.
(30)
Part of BergenBelsen
Concentration
Camp
 The Importance of Oral History
 A history textbook is useful for many things; you learn
specific times, places and results of historically important
events. The one thing however, that a textbook lacks is a
personal account. A textbook can tell you many things
but it cant tell you the emotional impact that a specific
event had on a person. That’s why oral history is so
important. You get a better sense of how the impact that
these historical events and on people. Speaking to Howard
and Nancy Kleinberg I got a very moving and
emotionally understanding of how the Holocaust affected
their lives. Their stories were truly inspirational and
unforgettable. By passing on their stories and keeping
their personal memories alive we will be able to ensure
that nothing this horrific every occurs again.
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