Rachel Rosenberg Shoah Foundation Testimony

  Sheryl Tatelman

Today is November 24, 1995. We'll be interviewing Rachel Rosenberg, whose maiden name was Boiman. The interviewer is Sheryl Tatelman. We're in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States, and we'll be interviewing in English. I'm Sheryl Tatelman, and I will be interviewing Rachel Rosenberg today, November 24, 1995, in Omaha, Nebraska. Could you tell us your name, please?

Rachel Rosenberg

My name is Rachel Rosenberg.

Sheryl Tatelman

And what was your name when you were born?

Rachel Rosenberg

Boiman.

Sheryl Tatelman

Boiman was your maiden name?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

Could you spell that for us?

Rachel Rosenberg

B-O-I-M-A-N.

Sheryl Tatelman

Okay. And when were you born?

Rachel Rosenberg

August 1st, 1923.

Sheryl Tatelman

And where were you born?

Rachel Rosenberg

In Poland.

Sheryl Tatelman

Where in Poland?

Rachel Rosenberg

Wolanów.

Sheryl Tatelman

Would you spell that for us?

Rachel Rosenberg

W-O-L-N-O-W.

Sheryl Tatelman

And what were the names of your parents?

Rachel Rosenberg

Rose was my mother. And Mosze was my father.

Sheryl Tatelman

And did you have a lot of brothers and sisters?

Rachel Rosenberg

We had three brothers.

Sheryl Tatelman

Three brothers?

Rachel Rosenberg

Mm-hmm.

Sheryl Tatelman

And were their sisters too?

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, I have my two sisters live through the war, and they live here in Omaha with me.

Sheryl Tatelman

So there were six of you?

Rachel Rosenberg

Six children.

Sheryl Tatelman

Three boys and three girls.

Rachel Rosenberg

Three boys and three girls. The girls are the oldest, and the boys were the youngest. So the three of them are here with Omaha.

Sheryl Tatelman

And what are the names of the sisters?

Rachel Rosenberg

Manya. You want their last name? Friedman. And Bluma Polonski. She's my youngest. I'm in the middle.

Sheryl Tatelman

You're in the middle of the sisters?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

And what were the names of the brothers?

Rachel Rosenberg

Aaron. And they called him [?] in Jewish. And Mottel. He was my youngest.

Sheryl Tatelman

And they were all younger than the sisters?

Rachel Rosenberg

They were all younger, yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

And this place where you live, Wolanów, was it a large city?

Rachel Rosenberg

No. It was a suburb. It was a very small city. There was only, like, very small, like, even smaller than Lincoln, Nebraska. A small city.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was it a Jewish city?

Rachel Rosenberg

It was a Jewish city. We had a synagogue. And my parents were Orthodox. We had Friday night dinner, religiously. Saturday morning, dressed up, went to the synagogue. And we were very well off. So- and then we had our aunts, uncles, two sets of grandparents. It was like a community, like everybody knew everyone. But it was- we were happy as children.

Sheryl Tatelman

You said that you had Friday night and Saturday morning. What was that like?

Rachel Rosenberg

Saturday night, we had the most glamorous dinners with fish, with challahs, with the soup, with lighting the candles, fresh flowers. And that was every Friday night. Then we couldn't cook Saturday. So they made up some food Friday for Saturday. They put it in a special place, in an oven, potatoes, and meat. And then Saturday, we all dressed. I remember I did, went with my father. My father was, well, he chanted at the... Yeah, he was davener or whatever. And afterwards, we came home and we had dinner. We changed our clothes and went to the fields and just played and had a good time.

Sheryl Tatelman

So is that something you remember as a special time?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, I do. Yeah, that was very special. And they took their time. They worked hard, but Saturday was a day of rest. It was peaceful. And that's what we don't have here.

Sheryl Tatelman

What kinds of work did your parents do?

Rachel Rosenberg

My father was a cattle buyer.

Sheryl Tatelman

A cattle buyer?

Rachel Rosenberg

Mm-hmm. And then he had his own butcher shop. There was a little shop. There was my house. And on the same lot, there was a butcher shop. And he sold meat, of course he had people who worked for him. And my mother was a seamstress. She did, like, pillowcases, embroidery with her sisters. Trousseaus, you know, for weddings. And I learned from my- And also, she sold materials.

Sheryl Tatelman

She sold materials.

Rachel Rosenberg

Sold, yeah, sold materials. I think from home, I don't remember a lot. I was alive. I was happy. I was going to school. I was learning the trade, the tailoring, which I do it right now.

Sheryl Tatelman

So you learned from your mother to be a seamstress?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes. From my mother, then came into the United States. Carl taught me.

Sheryl Tatelman

What kind of school did you go to?

Rachel Rosenberg

To school, to learn how to cut and to sew. I was there for probably two years to learn how to do handwork until they taught me how to cut, how to design, how to crochet. My grandmother taught me how to crochet. And that was my hobby until today.

Sheryl Tatelman

So you learned in school how to do all these things?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yeah. And it was like a home. It wasn't a school, like a seamstress. There was a seamstress. And she took in young children. I was in the third or fourth grade. I was very young. When they put me to her house and you did a little chore for her and just learned a couple hours a day.

Sheryl Tatelman

Okay.

Rachel Rosenberg

But it wasn't a school. It was just in her own home.

Sheryl Tatelman

So did you have to go to a regular school as well?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes. Yes. This was after school. Yeah. We went to a Catholic school.

Sheryl Tatelman

It was a Catholic school.

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes. And there was an hour of prayers which the Jewish children went outside for the hour.

Sheryl Tatelman

Were there a lot of Jewish children in the school?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes. Yes. Yes, there was a lot. It was a nice Jewish community.

Sheryl Tatelman

What other subjects did you learn in the school?

Rachel Rosenberg

Do you know what? I remember so little from my school. I don't know why. I just remember when the prayers were there. They told us not to stay. But I don't really remember. I read, write, arithmetic.

Sheryl Tatelman

But it was taught in Polish.

Rachel Rosenberg

It was taught in Polish, yes. And then I was what. I only had seven grades when none of us went to high school or anything.

Sheryl Tatelman

What was the relationship between the Jewish children and the gentile children, the Christian children?

Rachel Rosenberg

We mostly stayed with the Jewish. I don't know why. I don't know. But I never, I don't remember ever going. Maybe for the holidays we went in. Like Christmas time we saw the trees, the Christmas trees. But I never had a girlfriend who was not Jewish. We were all just kind of like a family, like a clique.

Sheryl Tatelman

Did you experience any anti-Semitism from the Christian children?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, we did. We were, sometimes we were afraid to tell them we're Jewish. There was a lot... of, yes, we felt that we are like a second-class citizen.

Sheryl Tatelman

Really?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, ma'am.

Sheryl Tatelman

In what kinds of ways?

Rachel Rosenberg

What kind of way? There was with the, oh, you crucified Jesus, you killed Jesus. I did not understand what was going on. But I know that I felt that we are a second-class citizen.

Sheryl Tatelman

And you said your father was a cattle buyer and he had a meat market.

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

He was a kosher butcher then?

Rachel Rosenberg

Kosher, kosher, yes, ma'am. Yes, yes. But I remember that Christmas time, there was another butcher twice. They put up tables, big tables, with meat. I don't know if that part wasn't kosher. I don't remember, but they sold meat outside because it was very, very cold and the meat was frozen. Yes. And they sold to the Gentile the meat. And my father said he had a very good week. I never had to do with money. I never had money in my hand or went to buy anything. Isn't that strange, but I remember it was Mother's Day and the teacher told us we should save five cents a cent. Everybody was poor. Well, in a way, you know, there was no money around like here, to save you money for Mother's Day. And I think I believe, this I will never forget. But I had 36 cents, pennies, I don't remember what the Polish name. And a day before, the teacher gave us the money and she said, well, take that money to a shop and buy something for your mother. How old was I? In the fourth year, fourth grade, I don't... And when I went to my - we had desks - and I went into the desk, and the money was gone. I cried a lot. I came home, went into my father. I said, father, I had 36 cents and somebody took it. So he gave me maybe 50 cents. I went in and I bought a cup and saucer for mom. I don't want to talk about it.

Sheryl Tatelman

You said that you had a lot of relatives, extended family in the area.

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, yes. We had aunts, uncles.

Sheryl Tatelman

Did you see them often?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes. So and so, you know.

Sheryl Tatelman

And what kind of a child were you?

Rachel Rosenberg

I thought I was a very good child.

Sheryl Tatelman

What kinds of things did you like to do?

Rachel Rosenberg

I was creative. I liked dolls, to work with dolls. And bride dolls was my favorite. And I played a lot, went to school, read. And then I was sick for about a year and that kind of slowed me down.

Sheryl Tatelman

When was that? How old were you?

Rachel Rosenberg

How old was I? Maybe nine, ten.

Sheryl Tatelman

Okay. And it slowed you down in what kind of way?

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, I was in a hospital, you know, kidney. They didn't have medicine at that time, but they had a diet. So I had to eat only milky things, no meat at all and no salt. And my beautiful mother cooked me special food. And so til today, I don't like milk because I had too much milk. And I was cured. I never had any problem with kidneys.

Sheryl Tatelman

Did you have a lot of friends? Were you an outgoing child?

Rachel Rosenberg

I wasn't, I was a happy child, a lot of friends. But I wasn't, I was shy, very, very shy. Because I was beautiful when I went out to the street. They touched my eyes, they touched my hair, if it's real. And I didn't understand why they doing this to me.

Sheryl Tatelman

Did you have long hair?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, I had beautiful black, long hair. But I was on the shy side. I wasn't a big mouth like they call it. I was very shy.

Sheryl Tatelman

It sounds like you had a very comfortable life.

Rachel Rosenberg

Very comfortable and a happy childhood, yes. And two beautiful parents.

Sheryl Tatelman

When did things start to change for you? When did things start to become more dangerous in Poland?

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, 1939 when the war broke out.

Sheryl Tatelman

Did you ever have a feeling before the war broke out that things were becoming more dangerous?

Rachel Rosenberg

No. My mother, my mother preached, she said, the Germans will not hurt us because they're cultured people. Matter of fact, when they made the ghetto, one day they say they're going to put all the Jews from one side into a corner. And it happened to be my home. So we had like 25 people in our house, because they had to leave their homes to come to the- because they had the plan to take us, to corner us. And so we stayed in that ghetto for... But I still, I'm sorry, but I still didn't think that anything like this would ever happen. We stayed there maybe three or four weeks. And then they come in, we have to go to concentration camps.

Sheryl Tatelman

Before you went there, if I could ask you, in 1939 when the war started, when Germany invaded, what happened first? What happened before you even went to the ghetto?

Rachel Rosenberg

We were still at the home and had a normal life. We saw a lot of Germans coming around. And we just didn't. And then one day they... I saw German officers with the rifles on them. And then that day they bombed our little city. And there were... I remember I was... I ran out of my house. And not too far, there were mountains. I grabbed my little boy, my middle one, just... And I said, let's go, let's run, because a lot of airplanes were on the air. And do you know, when we ran, a bomb fell. Oh, like, from here, across the street. And we saw that bomb fell. It didn't hit us. And we went into those mountains. And then it was all over. There were so many killed. The blood. I remember my mother took all the sheet, all the beddings, to say that in those beddings... How to say this, was wet with blood. People were cut up in little pieces. But none of my family had any damage. And then from there, maybe a week later or so, they took us to camp. But why I lined up by myself in a camp with my little brother, I don't know. And I asked Carl, do you know why would I lined up in a camp in Strzałków, all by myself? And my sisters, two sisters, my father and one of my brothers, my oldest, went in another camp. But I don't know why I lined up in that camp.

Sheryl Tatelman

So the first thing that happened, after this bombing happened, and then you had to go to the ghetto, or you were actually living in the area that became the ghetto. And how long was that after the invasion that they said you had to stay in the ghetto?

Rachel Rosenberg

We stayed in the ghetto maybe for four or six weeks until they got all of them the way they wanted. But why did they split, send me over there and send them over? I don't know.

Sheryl Tatelman

You went with your brother, your one brother.

Rachel Rosenberg

Right.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was this when they started to take people out to the camps?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, to the concentration camp.

Sheryl Tatelman

Did they take people out gradually, or it was all on one day?

Rachel Rosenberg

I think gradually.

Sheryl Tatelman

Were there people that were taken before you?

Rachel Rosenberg

I don't know. But I don't remember. That's such a puzzle in my mind. Why did I lined up in a different camp?

Sheryl Tatelman

So you don't remember whether your parents went before you or whether-

Rachel Rosenberg

No, I know where my parents, my father, my two sisters, one brother went to that big camp, Wolanów. I lined up in Strzałków with my cousins. My mother says, I'm not going to camp. I have my brother in a little town not too far from Wolanów. And she packed her things with my youngest brother and she said, I'm going to be there.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was she hiding there?

Rachel Rosenberg

No, there was still, it was still a community in that little town. So she gave me a golden ring and I had that golden ring with me. So I gave the golden ring to German and I said, why don't you take me? I want to get my mother. And I went there. She cooked me my favorite meal. I said, Mom, come with me to that camp. And she said, no, two more days. There was no more. They took them out... That was Yom Kippur. They took them out from synagogue to Treblinka, her and my little brother.

Sheryl Tatelman

So she stayed with your uncle and then they went?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, yes, to Treblinka.

Sheryl Tatelman

And where had you gone?

Rachel Rosenberg

And I went back to my own camp. Yes, to the concentration camp.

Sheryl Tatelman

And you had been able to get out?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, I gave that German that golden ring and I said, would you please take me? And we drove all day. And we came over to Mom's house and of course, she made a package for me. She said take it with you and I did.

Sheryl Tatelman

And so you were able to try to help her at that time?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, I went to get her.

Sheryl Tatelman

But you had to go back to your camp?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, I went back to the camp.

Sheryl Tatelman

And what camp was that?

Rachel Rosenberg

That was Strzałków.

Sheryl Tatelman

Strzałków. So you had already been from the ghetto to the Strzałków at that time. And when was that?

Rachel Rosenberg

I don't remember dates.

Sheryl Tatelman

But it was still the beginning of the war.

Rachel Rosenberg

40 in the 40s.

Sheryl Tatelman

In the early 40s.

Rachel Rosenberg

40s, 40s.

Sheryl Tatelman

Uh-huh. And...

Rachel Rosenberg

I'm not supposed to cry, but I do. I don't...

Sheryl Tatelman

Well, tell us a little bit about life in Strzałków.

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, it wasn't as hard as other camps were because we worked. They brought us for a reason, to work. And we worked every single day in the fields, in the corn. So they took us in the morning and they brought us back at night.

Sheryl Tatelman

They took you out into the fields?

Rachel Rosenberg

In the fields, yes. And we worked like they cut corn or in vegetable, you know, to...

Sheryl Tatelman

Corn and vegetables. Did you have to march out to the fields? Or, they had a truck?

Rachel Rosenberg

No, we walked. I think we walked. It was a small... It was like estate. A German owned it. And so he wanted some inmates like us to go and work for him. And that's what... That's the camp I was. But wasn't they like... Wolanów was a terrible camp. So it was more, you know, humanly.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was there enough to eat there?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, there was enough to... Yeah, we were not hungry in Strzałków, no.

Sheryl Tatelman

How many people were there?

Rachel Rosenberg

I would say about 250. Not a big camp, a small camp. But it puzzles me why did I lined up over there? That's because I went with my cousins. I don't...

Sheryl Tatelman

So you were with your cousins and the rest of your family went... All other places.

Rachel Rosenberg

Other places, yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

And you don't remember why?

Rachel Rosenberg

I don't remember why. I don't know. But I tried to get my mom. I said, Mom, come with me. She said, give me two more days. And my mother was young. 38 years old. And a beautiful, talented lady. She was kind of like I am. And she just didn't believe that the Germans will do to us what they did.

Sheryl Tatelman

In Strzałków, were there children and adults or was it just working age people?

Rachel Rosenberg

It was only working age people. There was one child who died. There was one little boy who... Well, I could tell you, but it's not important. Well, you know, they cooked for us. So there was big kettles. I don't know how they cooked those, you know, for 250 people. And by an accident, there was one little boy from my own town fell into the hot... That was such a tragedy.

Sheryl Tatelman

And there weren't any other children in this camp?

Rachel Rosenberg

No, no. Well, my brother was about 12, but then he worked.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was your brother with you?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes. My brother was always with me.

Sheryl Tatelman

Which brother was this... ?

Rachel Rosenberg

This is my middle brother.

Sheryl Tatelman

And his name. . .

Rachel Rosenberg

was Jacob Yuki.

Sheryl Tatelman

So how did he... did he line up with you when you were with your cousins?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, yes, yes, he lined up with me. He lined up with me in Blizyn, in Auschwitz.

Sheryl Tatelman

So how long did you stay in this camp where you were working on the farm?

Rachel Rosenberg

Oh, we stayed maybe a year.

Sheryl Tatelman

A year

Rachel Rosenberg

Yeah.

Sheryl Tatelman

And you wore your own clothes? You didn't have a uniform?

Rachel Rosenberg

No, no uniform.

Sheryl Tatelman

And was there a guard in this camp?

Rachel Rosenberg

Oh, yes, yes. Oh, oh, oh, yes. Guards with dogs.

Sheryl Tatelman

SS guards?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, guards, yes. But we were free and the guards were very friendly. It wasn't frightened like in Auschwitz or in Theresienstadt. We did not have a fence. There was no fence.

Sheryl Tatelman

Did anyone try to escape?

Rachel Rosenberg

Where you going to escape? There was no place, I mean . . .

Sheryl Tatelman

November 24th 1995 with Rachel Rosenberg. You said that you were in Strzałków?

Rachel Rosenberg

Mm-hmm

Sheryl Tatelman

And you stayed there for how long?

Rachel Rosenberg

In Strzałków, we stayed probably like a year or better.

Sheryl Tatelman

And then what happened?

Rachel Rosenberg

Then they shipped us to- to... I forgot the camp. I just- Which camp? Blizyn.

Sheryl Tatelman

Blizyn; how did you get there?

Rachel Rosenberg

By trains, by trains, yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

It was a cattle car, or it was a...?

Rachel Rosenberg

It was a cattle car. Am I too early to tell you the way I or shall we talk about a Blizyn first? Okay, Blizyn was a labor camp. We lived in barracks. It was horrible. The clothes we were cold. We were hungry. We were dirty. They took us to work every day. Then one day they had a meeting, they said 'who could sew?' Because they put up a big shop for- to work on the SS uniforms. Of course I'm a seamstress. So I put up my hand. So they said fine. Then a week later, they put us into this shops big shop, maybe a thousand people worked. So we worked on uniforms and there were... maybe a hundred people in one aisle. And I did very well. They liked the way I did the work so we worked like from 8 o'clock to 6 o'clock at night. And, lunch time they took us out and give us a little lunch. So anyway, I was chosen to- they, they give special people maybe from the from the 2,000 people, 100 handed got uniforms. So they called my name, so I thought they're gonna take me out and shoot me. I mean why would they call me my name and I had to put up go over there. So they gave me a new uniform because I was good in sewing.

Sheryl Tatelman

And was that something good, that you got this uniform?

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, nothing special but it's a it's a... Yeah, I was kind of proud of it. You know, I so they know I'm a good seamstress or I do good work, so- because they gave me that uniform.

Sheryl Tatelman

What did it look like?

Rachel Rosenberg

It was black, black with some letters on it.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was it warmer than the clothes you had?

Rachel Rosenberg

No, hon. No, it was just a polyester or who knows, just nothing, nothing special.

Sheryl Tatelman

So you didn't have really enough warm clothes for the winter time?

Rachel Rosenberg

No, we didn't have- we were we're always cold and hungry.

Sheryl Tatelman

What did they give you to eat?

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, they gave us collard- and they give us special crackers. Do you know I was here in the United States and I went to someplace, and they serve those crackers. I said those crackers are from camp. They give us those crackers to eat. But anyway, I was there maybe for eight, nine months. And... they choose me, to serve- you see everybody had as a scoop of soup. So I was chosen to have a scoop of soup.

Sheryl Tatelman

To... serve the soup?

Rachel Rosenberg

To serve the soup.

Sheryl Tatelman

Oh, how did you get chosen?

Rachel Rosenberg

Why... Just, just random.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was it something good or something bad that you were serving soup?

Rachel Rosenberg

It was good, I had a little more to eat. I could eat two scoops of soup or maybe have a little bit more bread.

Sheryl Tatelman

You said that you- in the beginning you were doing a different kind of work.

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, we we worked on... They build buildings so we we carried big blocks, like... cement blocks. ... I did this in Blizyn and I did this in Auschwitz.

Sheryl Tatelman

In Blizyn you were carrying these blocks...

Rachel Rosenberg

The blocks for the- for the builders. Yes, yes, yes. And of course every morning they took us out and count us. And then I was with the... with- you know with my cousin. And they took her out, special, they took like 15,000 women from Blizyn and put them on a ship, and then they sank them.

Sheryl Tatelman

So you saw people taken- all these women taken out, and one of them was your cousin?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, yes, yes, yes. And my cousin who was in Omaha, Rachel, she was among them too, but somebody- she was hiding. Somebody and then after it was over she came along- you know she came and I was so glad to have her. And I was also with that aunt in Blizyn. And she had two boys which were taken away from her and killed. They were like six- four and six, two beautiful little boys. I could see them now. And she lived in Israel and she passed away now. She's no longer with us.

Sheryl Tatelman

And- so you were still in Blizyn, you were still with- there were cousins with you and an aunt?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

And were there other people from your hometown with you?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, they were. Yes, they were. Matter of fact they are in Miami now.

Sheryl Tatelman

And your brother was he still with you in Blizyn?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, he was with me In Blizyn.

Sheryl Tatelman

And was he doing the same kind of work?

Rachel Rosenberg

No, he was- the Germans took him to feed their... ...goose and pigs. And, and he always brought home a little piece of bread, and we were hiding this you know, and you know, we slept on barracks, you know for that was cattle barracks, you know they-. And he was so sweet and so beautiful. Yeah, that's what he did. He worked, but because he was only 12 years old.

Sheryl Tatelman

So he he was only 12 at that time and he was able to help you by giving you a little extra food.

Rachel Rosenberg

A little extra food, yeah.

Sheryl Tatelman

How big was the barracks that you lived in?

Rachel Rosenberg

That- it was big. Well, there was you know, like a- We were we were eight, maybe, in one- What do you call this? I don't- section. And the- at night the lock- the doors were locked, and there were big barrels for the waste, you know, you had to go to the bathroom. And we lived with it like this.

Sheryl Tatelman

So there was big- human waste was a big barrel.

Rachel Rosenberg

We hardly, I don't remember whenever we had a shower. I don't remember how we ever kept- I don't know how we ever- I- I really don't remember. How did we wash our hair, or I...? We wore rags.

Sheryl Tatelman

You wore rags?

Rachel Rosenberg

Rags, unfitted shoes, whatever we could find. And everybody was in there and doing nothing. Just talking about what's gonna be tomorrow and who's gonna live through and who's gonna tell and and and and you know, think about the family think about my mother my father my my sister, you know. It was just always was sitting for hours and talk. Especially if it was Yom Kippur. We knew it. I don't know how we knew it was Yom Kippur. And we just sit there, outside the barracks and... And just dreamed and talked and why us and why me? We looked outside. We saw birds people worked in day in in their fields in the corn the Polish people worked in the corn. And we tried to get in so close so I could look to him. I said God if I would only be a bird or or I mean the hurt was so deep. And we could not understand why. Why did they do this to us?

Sheryl Tatelman

Were all the people in Blizyn Jewish people?

Rachel Rosenberg

Mostly, yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

Were they all Pole- Polish are- they were all from Poland?

Rachel Rosenberg

Poland, well there were some from Hungary but I have never met any- any of them. I just met Polish. We were all from Poland. Matter of fact, I had a friend and he escaped from Blizyn and then he got killed. I knew but after the war if he would be alive, he would have looked me up, but they killed him.

Sheryl Tatelman

But you know that he escaped?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes. Yeah, and somehow at least that's what I was told.

Sheryl Tatelman

You said you would sit around and talk and at that point you were thinking about your family. You didn't know where they were?

Rachel Rosenberg

No, I did not.

Sheryl Tatelman

And you were- what other kinds of things would you talk about? Were you afraid?

Rachel Rosenberg

We were afraid. But then there's nothing we could do. We only wished I said we're 16 17 18 years old. We never dated. We never knew what that what that- a boy is or- you know, alive. And there's still a world. There's the sky is blue. And there's people well, we didn't see that was-. It wasn't a town, it was out of town- fields. So we saw people working there. And sometimes they threw out a potato or you know through the gate, through the- there was, you know, barbed wires.

Sheryl Tatelman

Do you remember anything else from that camp?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, I do. One day I came home from work. That's the tru- that's, that's real. I came home from work tired. So they needed people to peel potatoes. And when they grabbed me I just kind of tried to get away from him. And because I did this they put me in a cellar for a whole day. Yeah Because I didn't want to peel the potatoes. Then the next day they let me out and then put me in the kitchen and I had to peel potatoes for a whole day. But then when I left I got one potato hidden. So I had the potato to eat.

Sheryl Tatelman

So that was very important to you that potato.

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes. Yes, they put it that potato saved my life. Was very skinny, right? You know, we just didn't have enough. We didn't have food. They just give us a scoop of food and then some hard bread sometime and the bread had mildew. You know the red mildew but who care?

Sheryl Tatelman

So you ate it anyway.

Rachel Rosenberg

We ate it anyway, of course. Yeah, we had very little food very little food. Was hungry for about five years. And I don't know how we made it.

Sheryl Tatelman

So you left Blizyn, when wer- when did you leave Blizyn?

Rachel Rosenberg

To Auschwitz? Yeah. I don't remember names- dates. '44 maybe. 1944 Yeah

Sheryl Tatelman

Did you leave with other people in the camp? Was- was there a lot of people leaving with you?

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, they put us in cattle cars and they shipped us to Auschwitz. And when we came to Auschwitz, we had to stay in the line for a long long long long time because they tattooed. They put tattoos on our hands.

Sheryl Tatelman

How long was the ride to Auschwitz from Blizyn?

Rachel Rosenberg

Probably a couple days.

Sheryl Tatelman

In the cattle car. And then you came to Auschwitz.

Rachel Rosenberg

Auschwitz, yeah.

Sheryl Tatelman

And did you know that Auschwitz was a little bit different than Blizyn?

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, I knew that this is going to be our end. This is where the crematoriums were, the gas chambers were and... the the the living was very bad. Every morning we had to stand in the line to count us and then we have to be naked for Mengele. And we were afraid and we were shivering but there were so many Germans around there we had no... You know; and he choose this go to the right and this goes to the left. So I saw him I saw him.

Sheryl Tatelman

So when you first got to Auschwitz you you had to be naked for Dr. Mengele.

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, yes, and because he choose a lot of them to you go to work and you go to the gas chamber. Yeah, I saw him in his uniform.

Sheryl Tatelman

What happened next?

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, the next, they put us into- to the camp, to the barracks And we stay there and then every morning they took us out to work. But we have to stay like that if they give us food. We have to stay maybe two hours in the line in order to get that scoop of food. You couldn't grab or you couldn't go anyplace or we couldn't there was nothing there. And I don't remember how did we ever? Washed I don't I don't remember honey. I just don't.

Sheryl Tatelman

What kind of work were you doing in Auschwitz?

Rachel Rosenberg

We worked on on buildings. Yeah, and then I did a little sewing. On my- where I stayed so I think a lady she was she was Jewish, but she had the- Mission to do like to watch us or something and she got acquainted with me. And she said she has something some embroidery to do for me. And that's what I did most of the time on the, in my in my in my barracks. And then they took us out in the morning in the snow and cold, in the fields where they built and we had to carry those I carried seven- you know those blocks, what is a 75 pound? I carried those blocks. And, you know, for them to build. Because there were SS around us and you know you couldn't-. Of course I, you know I sewed so I made some, I found some sweaters so I made some stockings. To wear.

Sheryl Tatelman

For yourself to wear?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yeah.

Sheryl Tatelman

How did you find the sweaters?

Rachel Rosneberg

Well there was a you know from the dead people. There was a big huge building from clothes Like the shawls they wear in the synagogue. Shoes, stockings, so we went there in the morning when nobody was around and I took out this sweater. That's what I- I made- I made stocking for my little brother.

Sheryl Tatelman

You made stockings for your brother. He was with you in Auschwitz?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes he was.

Sheryl Tatelman

He came with you at the same time?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

And you were able to help him out by making some stockings for him.

Rachel Rosenberg

Then one day they took him away from me, but I didn't want to let go. I said I want to go with him, and I cried so hard and I begged them please let me go with him, and they took my- I wasn't too too big. So they took my body and just threw me away, far away from him. There was a lot of people around, and then took him away. That's my biggest sin, and you know what? I see him so often walking away from me. I can see it, and I loved him so much. And I put a sweater on him, so he'll be warm. He was the cutest little boy you've ever seen. I'm sorry.

Sheryl Tatelman

When did this happen?

Rachel Rosenberg

That, that happened in Auschwitz.

Sheryl Tatelman

Why did they take him away?

Rachel Rosenberg

Because they took away the young the young and he was just in the wrong place. He was just- we were standing there in the wrong place, and they took him and I said why don't you want to take me? And they just grabbed him away from me, and I couldn't do anything. And I and I followed him, followed those trucks. You know that before that he was sick on typhus and he was in the hospital. And I was I was there laying day and night to watch him because they took out every few days they took out the sick.

Sheryl Tatelman

He was in the hospital inside Auschwitz?

Rachel Rosenberg

In in Auschwitz before they took him away from me. So they got some- with sirens. Even today, 'til today when I hear that siren I get frightened. I said God, this is that Auschwitz siren. When a rescue squad goes, but they didn't take him he got well, and I hid him and I made him those stockings and I give him a nice sweater and then one day they took him away from me.

Sheryl Tatelman

Because he was-

Rachel Rosenberg

He was he was young. And I see him so many times in my life. Walking away from me. This why I was so protective of my children because of him.

Sheryl Tatelman

Were your sisters with you in Auschwitz?

Rachel Rosenberg

No my sisters were in Auschwitz, but in a different camp. Remember I I had a piece of a loaf of bread. I think that Carl's brother, the youngest... Was on one of the trains which they brought people from Denmark from different- To Treblinka to- no to Auschwitz for the gas chamber. And he had with him, I saw him working on the trains from the far. I recognized him. His youngest brother, Nathan was his name, and he saw me. He threw me a bread and I had that bread with me. Then when I walked in Auschwitz just walked. Must have been in the summer, and I saw a lot of women working in the train. What do you call the- Where the trains go through the-

Sheryl Tatelman

The tracks?

Rachel Rosenberg

The tracks! And I looked and I looked and I said this is Bluma and Manya.

Sheryl Tatelman

Your sisters.

Rachel Rosenberg

My sisters. I went a little bit closer to the gates, to the barbed wire, and I screamed, of course they, but they saw me and they wave to me. And I had that bread cut up in little pieces and I threw them that bread.

Sheryl Tatelman

It was the same bread?

Rachel Rosenberg

The same bread. And I also gave some to Carl's mother. She was laying almost dead and I came in I said Aunt Chana, there is a piece of bread. And I brought her a glass of water and that. But when they moved us from Auschwitz to the last camp. She was on the same train. My sisters were on the same train. But when we came to the destiny, I had no sisters, they went someplace else, but his mother was dead, they killed her on the train [unclear]. But going from Auschwitz to that last camp to Czechoslovakia. They took us 10 days. That I remember like it was today. There were a hundred people in the in the box car. And every 12 o'clock the SS opened the door, and give us a spoon of sugar a day. That's a true story. A spoon of sugar a day and a little bit of water. And we lived there for 10 days. How did we do it? Tell me.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was it wintertime or summertime?

Rachel Rosenberg

It was like fall time, fall. It wasn't winter. It was fall time. And there was 100 people in that car.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was it all women?

Rachel Rosenberg

All women, yes. Yeah. The men were- in Auschwitz the- the women were not with them. No, no. And then also in Auschwitz every day when I went to work, I went through the crematorium. We saw the... flames, we saw the black dust coming out. And so we said well next time it'll be us.

Sheryl Tatelman

So you didn't really believe that you would survive?

Rachel Rosenberg

No, never. Never. We sat and talked, and we said... And who is going to be able to tell what we've been through and why us? It- it just...

Sheryl Tatelman

What else do you remember from Auschwitz?

Rachel Rosenberg

Hmm.

Sheryl Tatelman

What else do you remember from Auschwitz?

Rachel Rosenberg

I- I don't know.

Sheryl Tatelman

Were there a lot of people from different countries in Auschwitz with you or were they mostly Polish?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, they were, but I never knew people from other countries, I only had the- the Polish. And I kept kind of quiet. I was shy so I kind of kept to my aunt. She was my mother's sister.

Sheryl Tatelman

Your aunt was with you.

Rachel Rosenberg

My- yes, and I was kind of with her. And she had those two little boys, who they killed. But I didn't venture too much. And took care of my little brother as much as I could, you know.

Sheryl Tatelman

Were you and your aunt able to help each other?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, yes. Yeah, we were kind of together. Yeah, and then my cousins were there, we were- my cousins and my- matter of fact, I have two- one lady, the same age, her name is Rachel. We worked in the last camp, so I didn't come to this, but she was side by side. I I don't- I don't- I don't remember what I did in Auschwitz. I except working. We worked and we came home and they gave us a little food and then in the morning we have to stay and wait for us to be counted. And then I sewed little things for me, like I went to that to that big thing where there was a lot of clothes. So I picked up some clothes and I had a needle and thread and tried to sew for people or for my aunt to make sure she's you know, she's her feet are warm. And so that that's what I kept busy with with sewing and, and doing things.

Sheryl Tatelman

And you said the next camp you went to was in Czechoslovakia?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

What was the name of that camp?

Rachel Rosenberg

I don't remember. That was my last camp.

Sheryl Tatelman

But, you remember that it took ten days on the- in the box car to get there?

Rachel Rosenberg

Right. 10 days to come. When I came, I thought my sisters would be there. My sister were not. My cousin Rachel. She wasn't they were sent to different camps. So I was alone again. And then when the SS saw me, you know, when I came down. She saw me she took my hand and took me in a little room. Only me.

Sheryl Tatelman

When you first got there?

Rachel Rosenberg

When I first got there, yes. Because I had beautiful long hair and she didn't like me because of that long hair. And she took me in in a room and then she walked out and I didn't know what to do. I thought well, they're going to kill me. So then she came back with another SS and with big scissors and they shaved off all my hair, and gave me a black scarf to wear. And then in the morning, they took us to ammunition factories, big ammunition factories, where they were men. So she didn't want to- she didn't want us to look like human being. She wanted us to look, you know, horrible, so we all had those those scarf. We had to wear the scarves and I had no hair. After the war, I had very little hair. And so we worked in the factory in the factories and then I remember one day a nice lady, she was a German, and she said, you know what? It won't be long until you're gonna be liberated. I said what? Liberated, I'm going to be free. I couldn't understand the word. And so we stayed there, and then... We were liberated May 8 1945, and we didn't know what to do. We were just- so we worked in cellars, Potatoes, sorting potatoes, big potatoes, small potatoes, little potatoes. So when they told us were free, I said, what does that mean? So I- we went in the cellar, picked up a lot of potatoes, found a bucket, made a fire from wood. And we cooked the potatoes and ate. And then later on they came and they took us to Czechoslovakia, to an orphanage's house.

Sheryl Tatelman

November 24, 1995, with Rachel Rosenberg. You said you were in a camp in Czechoslovakia, and the conditions there were very difficult.

Rachel Rosenberg

Right. We were very afraid of that SS. She was very vicious and mean.

Sheryl Tatelman

It was a woman.

Rachel Rosenberg

It was a lady, a woman, yes. Yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was she the head of the camp?

Rachel Rosenberg

She was the head of the SS, yes. There was an ammunition factory, a city of ammunition factory. So they put us to work there, and that's where I worked.

Sheryl Tatelman

Do you remember this lady's name?

Rachel Rosenberg

No, honey. I don't remember. I was afraid to look at her. She wore that uniform. She was tall. She may be 5'8", 5'9", a tall, mean one. But there was some nice, too, that one told me not too long we're going to be liberated. I said, what does that mean? She said, we're going to be liberated. We're going to be free.

Sheryl Tatelman

What were the conditions as far as food like in this camp?

Rachel Rosenberg

Food, we were hungry all the time. One day, I passed by a kitchen, or I found a potato, and I had that potato in my hand, I was hiding it, until at night, I sliced it in very- I don't know where I got a knife from, I sliced it in very little pieces, and I lived that potato for about eight days. Just one little slice a day. They gave us very little food... in that last of the last camps.

Sheryl Tatelman

You were working in an ammunition factory.

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, yes.

Sheryl Tatelman

What were you doing inside the factory?

Rachel Rosenberg

They gave us special tools. They showed me what to do, and then we did every day the same thing, and my friend, who is still alive, she's in Miami, she worked beside me.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was she your friend from before the war?

Rachel Rosenberg

She was from my hometown. Yeah, it's a coincidence. Yeah, she's from my home town.

Sheryl Tatelman

And when you said there was a German who told you that you would be liberated soon, was this an SS?

Rachel Rosenberg

That was a lady, a lady SS. Yes, a woman came up to me and she said, listen, it's not going to be too long. You're going to be liberated from the Russians. And we heard a lot, well, there was a lot of airplanes around and bombing going around. We could hear it in wherever we lived. Yeah, but we came specially to work in the ammunition factory. We made parts for whatever. They showed us how to make the parts, and we made the part. It was dark in the factory, and we had to stay all day long. They gave us a little break, they gave us a little soup, like 12 o'clock or 1 o'clock, just to keep us alive. Yeah, but there's always SS around us. There was always guards around us. Dogs, with dogs. We were really afraid.

Sheryl Tatelman

More afraid in this camp than in other camps?

Rachel Rosenberg

Just about the same, yeah. Well, we were kind of hoping, the hope was a little bit better than in Auschwitz. They told us maybe the war will come to an end. And we wished for the partisans to come. I said, maybe a miracle will help. Maybe somebody will take us out from there. But it never happened.

Sheryl Tatelman

So what happened when you were liberated?

Rachel Rosenberg

Oh, when we were liberated, a lot of people were very sick, but I happened to be healthy. So we just, I don't know, we went, we went in a group. We still were afraid to move, so we were in groups. We went to towns, and then the ladies gave us bread, and she gave us butter, margarine, and she gave us food. And then we just waited there for- we were happy, happy and unhappy. Where is our family? Where am I? What are we, what are we going to do, you know, this situation? You know, I was alone since I was about 16 years old without parents. And so there's all kinds of things went through our minds. And then we looked, searched, and they took us from there, they took us to Prague.

Sheryl Tatelman

Who was they?

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, I don't know. There was a special organization who worked for, with the survivors, I don't-

Sheryl Tatelman

Was it a Jewish organization?

Rachel Rosenberg

A Jewish, yes. UNRRA, or United Jewish Appeal. I don't know who. They took us to Czechoslovakia, took us to our home, and they gave us clothes, they gave us food, they gave us a bed the first time in our life. We slept in a, in a [unclear] bed. And from then they told us we had to work. So they took us, and we worked in a restaurant. We washed dishes, we cleaned, there was about 10 of us from 16, 16 years old. So we, we did, we did work. And then we came home, they taught us how to swim, they, they talked to us, taught us a little bit of language. And we worked until I found my sisters, but I don't, I don't remember where I found them. Honestly, I don't. Then we didn't want to stay in Czechoslovakia, we wanted to go to, to Poland. And I think we, we walked and walked and walked for days.

Sheryl Tatelman

With your sisters?

Rachel Rosenberg

With my sisters in the woods, with my cousins, through the woods at night to come to Poland. And we were in Poland maybe two days. And I went to my home, and I found a picture of my family, of my dad, but my dad and my mom. But I don't have it, I don't know what happened. And then we started to walk again for days and nights.

Sheryl Tatelman

And you came back to your, to your,

Rachel Rosenberg

yeah, I was,

Sheryl Tatelman

to your home where you had lived before the war. Were there people living there?

Rachel Rosenberg

I was afraid to go in, yeah, people were living there, and they told us not to stay in Poland for too long because they're going to kill us. So we left. Where did you go? Back to Czechoslovakia. And then we found Carl. And he was in Landsberg am Lech. Then we went to Stuttgart. My sister, Manya, was in Stuttgart. And I was in Landsberg. Manya and Bluma were in Stuttgart, and I was in Landsberg. And then we, our life was a little... better, so everyone looks for a mate, you know, to get married, to have children. I don't know why, but, you know, that's nature. So we got married in 1946 in Germany.

Sheryl Tatelman

Were you living- where were you living at that time?

Rachel Rosenberg

In Landsberg am Lech.

Sheryl Tatelman

Was it a DP camp, or you were living in the city?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes it was a DP camp, yes. There were soldiers before, German, and then we got in, in a particular blok, B-L-O-K, blok, in a blok. We lived in a blok. And Carl started to sew, and then they gave us care packages. And we sheltered, whoever lived through, we sheltered in that room. I don't know, we had one room or two. All the cousins, all everybody was there with me and Carl and my sisters. And my sister went, then Bluma, I don't know where, Bluma went to... I just said the name and I forgot. Well, I was in Landsberg, and they were in a different town. And then I worked for the UNRRA, and I sewed shirts in Landsberg am Lech, and they gave me care packages. And we stayed there until 1949.

Sheryl Tatelman

So you stayed there about four years?

Rachel Rosenberg

Yeah.

Sheryl Tatelman

And what was it like there?

Rachel Rosenberg

I don't remember what, but I know I worked and cooked and conversed, and we had people coming and going all the time and applied for to go to the United States. I did not want to go to Israel. My older sister went to Israel, and Carl wanted to go to Israel. I said, I'm not going. I don't want to suffer any more than I did. I said, I want to go. I knew that the United States should be a good country. We didn't know the language, so I said, we're going to go to the United States, and we did. And before coming to the United States, they gave us $100.

Sheryl Tatelman

Who's they?

Rachel Rosenberg

The, I don't know, the Jewish organization gave everyone $100, so we bought crystal. Which I have today. All my crystals are from Germany. And Maurice was a year old, maybe a year and a half old.

Sheryl Tatelman

This is your oldest son.

Rachel Rosenberg

Yeah, I was 21. Maurice- Carl was 31.

Sheryl Tatelman

When he was born or when you came to the United States?

Rachel Rosenberg

When I come to the United States. He was born in Landsberg am Lech.

Sheryl Tatelman

Maurice.

Rachel Rosenberg

Maurice, my oldest.

Sheryl Tatelman

So he was born in the camp in Landsberg am Lech. And what year was he born?

Rachel Rosenberg

'48- '48...

Sheryl Tatelman

But he was only a year and a half old?

Rachel Rosenberg

A year, a year and a half old. Yeah, he couldn't walk. We brought him over on the ship, and he was very ill, you know, and I was ill on the ship. It took 12 days to come to the United States.

Sheryl Tatelman

And where did you come when you came to the United States? Where did you, where in the United States did you come to?

Rachel Rosenberg

We come to New York with the ship, yeah.

Sheryl Tatelman

So how did you end up coming to Omaha?

Rachel Rosenberg

I like that question. Well, we came to New York, and there was no one to claim us. No relatives. They asked if you have a relative. Someplace they claim you, you go. So they went to New Jersey, they went to Boston, they went all over. But us, we didn't have anybody to claim us. So Omaha claimed us. So the Jewish community brought us into, they put us on train, I think two days, and we came to Omaha. So I asked the question, why me and Omaha? But that's the story. Nobody claimed us, so we came to Omaha. And I'm glad we did, in a way.

Sheryl Tatelman

What was it like when you first came to Omaha?

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, when I came to Omaha, a lady picked me up. It was about five o'clock at night. We were tired, hungry, with a baby. Then I saw her with a car, drive a car, and she wore a beautiful mink coat, Mrs. Newman. And I said, oh, ladies, you know, coming from where I went after five years, you just didn't see people, didn't see. I said, a lady drives a car, and a lady, and she had a mink coat. I said, my God. And she took us and bought us a sandwich of salami. I said, God, salami. Then they took us on 16th Street. In Omaha is a very bad street. It's a bad neighborhood. When I walked into that room, I thought it was a palace. But when she picked us up from the train, we had no language, we had no money, we had no clothes, we had no friends, just like that. I mean, here we are.

Sheryl Tatelman

And what did you do for work when you got here?

Rachel Rosenberg

So then she gave us that room, and I thought, God, am I going to live in that room? And they brought us linens. There was bread on the table, and somebody brought me a little plate to cook food, because Maurice was sick from the train and all this. And I said, I'm going to be able to cook my own. It was a dream come true. And then I went to work for Pendleton. So, and I took Maurice six o'clock in the morning to a daycare, and the child cried in my hands. He didn't want to go. He didn't want to let go of me. And then I worked there for about a week. Then I come home. I said, you know, to Carl, I'm leaving you. I don't want that kind of life. I was afraid when I worked. I worked so hard because there was somebody watching me over. I was afraid to get up to the restroom because I thought I have just to work all the time. And I did, and I was very tired. So he said, well, then we have to see what we can do. So we went to Veret. He was the president of the Jewish Community Center, and he found Carl a store. They paid my first rent, and we hired a lady to talk for us because we couldn't talk. We brought our machines with us from Germany. We brought those machines with us. Set up a store. I lived in the back of the store for six months without the nice bucks, without a bed. They gave us an old couch where we lived. I had a little plate to cook with, you know, the facilities were very bad. So I stayed there for eight months. And then in Omaha is a Boy's Town. They heard about us, and they brought me a lot of clothes to repair and to make over for the children from the Boy's Town. And Carl worked from about six in the morning to 10 o'clock at night. And I did, too. And we repaired those clothes, and they gave us the first $250 check. I called Mrs. Newman. I said, Mrs. Newman, we have money. I've got $250 check. And she was a real estate lady. And she bought me a home across the street from Leavenworth Street, where my store was, a big home. And I look at that home. I said, oh, I cannot live. I'm going to live in a beautiful home like this? No. She walked me into those rooms and upstairs and everything. But the first, so I advertised, she helped me, to get somebody to help me to pay the rent because it was about $100. The whole house was $12,000. We only put on $250. So they helped me pay the rent. They lived upstairs, a couple. I let them use my stove to cook. I changed their linens. And they stayed there, and they helped me pay the rent. And then I had my sisters over, and whoever didn't have a home was in my home. And we didn't have a lot, but we were a happy family, just...

Sheryl Tatelman

And how many children did you have?

Rachel Rosenberg

I have two boys and a girl.

Sheryl Tatelman

And their names?

Rachel Rosenberg

Maurice, Annie, Chana, and Stuart. Shulam is my youngest, and I love them dearly.

Sheryl Tatelman

And you and your husband have worked together in sewing all these years.

Rachel Rosenberg

Yes, we did. Yes, we worked together. We hired a lady. She would talk maybe for a month. Then I went to school. I went to school to learn. A Jewish lady taught us how to speak a little bit, and then I... And there we are.

Sheryl Tatelman

And you have grandchildren?

Rachlel Rosenberg

I have two grandchildren. Adam and Isaac. Five and two. They live in Minneapolis.

Sheryl Tatelman

Is there anything else you want to add? Anything else?

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, I'm trying to be as happy as I can. I'm grateful to be in that great nation. It gave me opportunity to be what I am today. And I loving my children. I love my children. I did the best I could.

Sheryl Tatelman

Well, thank you very much for sharing your story with us.

Rachel Rosenberg

You're welcome.

To the left is my father. He was about 45 years old. And to the right is his brother.

Sheryl Tatelman

And what were your- the names?

Rachel Rosenberg

Abe was his brother's name.

Sheryl Tatelman

The brother was Abe and your father's name?

Rachel Rosenberg

No, that's his brother. That's his brother, Abe.

Sheryl Tatelman

And what was your father's name?

Rachel Rosenberg

Mosze. Mosze Boiman.

Sheryl Tatelman

And where was the picture taken?

Rachel Rosenberg

In Poland.

Sheryl Tatelman

And how is it that you have this picture?

Rachel Rosenberg

Somebody brought it from Russia. After the war, they brought me that picture. They had it in their wallet and they wanted me to have it.

This is the picture of me, Rachel. I was 20 years old. And that was done, I believe, right after the war. It must be in Landsberg am Lech. On top is Carl Rosenberg. To the right, I am Rachel Rosenberg, his wife now. And Jacob, he was a tailor working with Carl. And then there was a friend, Lola. She's in Australia. My sister, Bluma. And to the right is my sister, Manya. And my good friend, Harry Wasserman.

Carl Rosenberg

Not Jacob [unclear.

Rachel Rosenberg

That's okay. That's it.

To my left is Bluma, my sister, then Rachel. I'm there. And there is my daughter, Anne, and her cousin, Sonia. Anne Tuvman is Sonia Polonski right now.

Sheryl Tatelman

And where was this picture taken?

That picture was taken in... Omaha, Nebraska.

This is me, Rachel Rosenberg, in 1946. And my husband, Carl. Right after we got married in Landsberg am Lech.

This is Rachel Rosenberg in 1952, I believe. And my husband, Carl Rosenberg.

This is our first tailor shop in Omaha, Nebraska. And to the left, it's Rachel Rosenberg. This is the coat that was given to me by the Jewish Community Center when I arrived to Omaha. And I did not have any stockings, so I wear white stockings as you see.

Then there's Carl. And there is my oldest son, Maurice. And there is my cousin's son, Sam Seufer, and my cousin, Regina, which is no longer with us. In the back, I believe, is my sister.

In the middle is Rachel Rosenberg. Next to me is Carl Rosenberg. To the left is my beautiful Anne Tuvman, my daughter, and her husband, Ken Tuvman. To the right is my gorgeous Stuart Rosenberg and my wonderful Maurice Rosenberg.

This is my son, Stuart Rosenberg, and his lovely wife, Linda Rosenberg.

This is my gorgeous grandson, Adam Tuvman. And Adam, I love you.

This is my other grandson, Isaac Tuvman. He's about six months old when the picture was taken. And I love you too, hun.

Shall I tell him? To my left is my husband, Carl Rosenberg. Carl, do you want to say something?

Carl Rosenberg

Yes, I want to say. I want to say that I fell in love with Rachel in 1940, the city of Wolanów, where she was 18 years of age. And I lived with that love 'til my liberation. And I still dream about her because she's quick, sharp, and commanding.

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, we made a life together here in Omaha, worked hard, accomplished a lot, raised two beautiful children, did the best we can. They all have college. And I hope they forgive me if I wasn't the perfect mother. I was only 16 years old when I lost my parents. You want to say something?

Carl Rosenberg

I would say that love is a strong trouble in the human mind. When you love a person, it's one way, two ways of. You're married once and you die once. That I'm still in love with her. And I hope that we will enjoy life 'til I die.

Rachel Rosenberg

Well, thank you. Thank you, Carl. That was nice of you. Very nice.

This is the number that was given to us when we walked into Auschwitz. There was a big line, and we had to stay in the line. It was raining. It's 15254, and the number is A, 15254. I was the 15,000th inmate coming into Auschwitz.