Henry Orenstein was born in Hrubieszow, Poland in 1923, hailing from a Jewish family. Henry grew up in a very anti-Semitic Poland, even though most of the population in Poland was Jewish. He was very intelligent in both Language and Math, however was not a very athletic person. Because of the anti-Semites Henry was mostly homeschooled, but most of his teachers had problems with him, as he would often trick them or pay them into playing ping-pong. Even though he tricked his teachers and often never payed attention to them Henry still managed to be a very bright person, who learned much due to his avid reading addiction. Like many other Jews, Henry was not able to attend a normal high school, instead he had to attend a gymnasium. Henry used his intelligence to gain a modest amount of respect within the school, even though he was Jewish, but one day the teacher discovered he hadn’t payed attention during a subject and immediately failed him. Henry was still able to finish his senior year though and continued into the next chapter of his life. …show more content…
Henry knew Hitler was an extreme anti-Semite, and worried greatly for him and his family. He used to throw himself on his bed and cry to try and get his father to let them flee the country, but to no avail. Eventually the inevitable invasion of the German army happened, and Henry, his father, and his three brothers fled to a nearby town via wagon. The 4 managed to live there for two years, but decided to move back to Hrubieszow, so they could visit Henry’s mother and sister. Eventually the family started to lack supplies and had to turn themselves into the Germans. The entire family was piled into trucks, the last thing Henry and his siblings saw of their parents was them being shot, killed and buried in a