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Sept. 17th 1984 From Shapiro
Clara Zaleman was born June 28 - 1923 in Rowno Poland. She was 1 of 5 children ( 3 girls and 4 girls one boy. Her father died a few years before the war and her mother was left to run the wholesale grocery busines. When war broke out the town was ocupied by the Rushian army, and soon after they started to nationalize all the private busineses. Clara Familymother being in busines was ???tring out of the warrehouse and the busines was given to one of the employes with comunistic living. after that nobody in their family was allowed to get a job and work all the jobs were reserved for party
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sympatizers. Buy that time the oldest sister Soma was maried and living in Toulose France with her husband. The Second sister Zemia was also married an living close by. At home were Clara, her younger sister witch is dead and her brother witch was killed during the bombing in 1941 when the Germans invaded eastern Poland ocupied by the rusians. Soon after the German ocupation, Clara left Rowno and went to stay with relatives in Wilno close to the Lituanian border. Last she heard of her mother is being in the hospital with a tumor on her back. She
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knowing & seeing no way out took a vile of poison and died. The fait of the younger sister is not known.
Before too long the German ocupied Wilne and formed a closed ghetto. After a while they took out all the young people and send them to the camp Riga in Latwia. She worked overthere for a while loading barrels with gasoline on railroad cars. In late 194[deleted]4 she was transported to camp Shtutheff by Danzig where she was untill they loaded all the prisoners on ships and transported them to to North see. While in Stuthoff she
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had a severe infection and boils on her body the one thett left a a large scar was on her neck. the only think that saved here her than were the lice which setted in the infested the boils and ate the puss. later she also got a case of the tyfus. feverburning up withe fever she was lying next to a window and wanting to end the suffering open it up and exposed her uncovered body to the cold (this was in winter) hoping to catch pneumonia and die. But it never hepenn when you want it to happen.
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at the beginning of 1945
She recovered from her sicneses and was able to return to work in the kitchen and this helped her gain back some strainght Close to the end of the war, in April 1945 they the ships with prisoners about 5 of them seem to congregate on the north see about close to the shores of the town of Neustadt Holstein after a few days there the Germans armywas at the end of their rope and saw the end comming and started to empty the ships. A lot of the prisoners got off in the ships close to shore got off. the rest of [deleted] them td to jump in to the water and and save themself by swimming to shore. Clara was one of them.
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You ask about the phisical details of the coal cars, and the country ride: Well to tell you the truth we did not pay much attention to the cars. the reason I know they were coal cars is after 3 days traveling in them we got off covered with black coal powder, just like chimney sweepers. the countryside was in some places leveled from the bombs. specialy Hamburg the city was 75% demolished. there was not a city left untouched by the war.
I was thinking of the your request for names and addresed of enyone who went through the camp with her. I could not remember anyones name and I think I know the answer why: We did not make any attempts to get close, and make friend with anyone for the simple reason not to have somebody alse to wory about when they are in trouble or hungry. You just wanted to be able
to take care of yourself.
As far as relatives are concerned, there is a older sister Calare in Israel and another one in France. The one in France I did not contact them since Clara pased away. I beg them to come I visit us to the States when she was very sick and they alway find excuses not to come. Therefore I did not feel the need to have them as relatives. The one in Israel Her name and addres is:
Zenia Feldman str. Mikve Israel
Block 4
Chulon Israel
