Flossenbürg Experience

Near the German town of Flossenbürg, there is an area of land that contains granite that could be extracted. SS members saw this area of land and saw it as an opportunity to place workers there for forced labor. This area was turned into the concentration camp, known as Flossenbürg.(1)

There are a few people who remember their experiences in this camp. These people include Hana L. and another Jewish prisoner. Hana L. explains her experience as: “They always assembled in groups of five, followed by the high SS marching by in their perfect uniforms. It was Dr. Mengele personally who sorted the people into those capable of work and prisoners destined for gassing. As we were both dressed in a good coat and an anorak, he signaled my cousin Vera

They were both Jewish boys who were lucky enough to be put to work, rather than being forced into the gas chambers. Kalman was with his mother but was separated from her because he was a boy, meaning she was led to the chambers. Samuel was saved because a former acquaintance who worked at the camp suggested him to tell the guards he was a brick layer, which gave him the opportunity to do hard labor, as opposed to death. They both were assigned to separating the belongings left by those who were gassed. When the Russians won the Battle of Stalingrad, Nazis started to get paranoid, which led to the destruction of evidence that showed Nazi brutality. One way of doing this was to burn the bodies that were left over and underground, which Samuel and Kalman were both assigned to do. Fearing their demise was soon to come, they both participated in an escape of most of the remaining prisoners. Although Samuel was shot in the leg, they both made it out alive. Samuel went on to join the Polish underground and participate in the Warsaw Uprising. Kalman wandered around Poland for a year after. They both eventually wound up in Israel, where they had families and started new lives. Samuel is still alive today, speaking about his experiences at the age of 92, while Kalman died three years

She suffered mental illness for a small portion of her life that was increased from suffering a major loss. When Germans annexed Austria, she was sent to Steinhof, where she was kept for a long time. She was eventually transferred to Brandenburg where she was subjected to unwanted treatment and eventually sent to a gas chamber where she perished.(9) She kept a diary of the events she endured and feelings she had during the time. Here is one quote from her diary from November 1940:

“I knew that they hated Jews, which I was considered one because my father was, even though I had practiced Christianity in Vienna for my entire life… Then the doctors, who were part of the government conspiracy I was sure, told me I had a mental illness. They called it something like Schizophrenia.”(10)

She was a very observant girl and wrote about many of the things she saw in the camp. Her diary includes many other entries outlining her life during this time.

Henoch Kornfeld was the child of Moishe Kornfeld and Liba Saleschutz. They were Jewish and lived in the town Kolbuszowa, Poland. Germany invaded Poland and eventually reached their town. The family was later sent to Rzeszow ghetto and then Belzec extermination camp. Henoch perished at the young age of three and a half with his