The Life Story of Henry Greenbaum, a Holocaust Survivor Interviewer

I Will Survive: The Life Story of Henry Greenbaum, a Holocaust Survivor Interviewer: Michael McMillen Interviewee: Henry Greenbaum Instructor: Glenn Whitman Date of Submission: February 13, 2013 McMillen 2 Table of Contents Interviewee Release Form 3 Interviewer Release Form 4 Statement of Purpose 5 Biography 6 The Third Reich: The History of Adolf Hitler and his Rise to Power 8 Interview Transcription 15 Analysis Paper 48 Works Consulted 52 McMillen 3 . McMillen 4 . McMillen 5 Statement of Purpose The purpose of the American Century Oral History Project is to bring unknown survivors or people who have lived through an event to the forefront and preserve their story. This project is mainly to show readers, through a convergence of evidence, the viewpoint of a person who lived through and/or experienced an event that was historically significant. Through the interview, one acquires a very detailed knowledge of a certain period or event. After researching the Holocaust (1939-1945) and interviewing Henry Greenbaum, a Holocaust survivor, I learned more about the Holocaust in two hours than I had in my entire history class. McMillen 6 Biography: Henry Greenbaum Henry Greenbaum was born in Strachowice, Poland on April 1, 1928. He was raised by his mother and father in Strachowice. His father ran a tailor business through their house; as Mr. Greenbaum puts it, a “mom and pop store” (McMillen 17). When the Germans invaded their small town, every Jew in their town was deported to the Strachowice ghetto where he was kept for two years. During the holding, three of his five sisters were deported to Treblinka and killed. He was later moved to a slave labor camp, where he and his sister Faige attempted an escape with a Jewish policeman. After being shot in the back of the head, he woke up. The guards called roll to see who had escaped, and he realized that his sister Faige had been killed during the escape. After that, Henry was moved to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the major killing center in Poland during the holocaust. He was sent on a death march from there when the Germans heard that Russian troops were liberating camps. On the death march, he was liberated by American troops and freed from German control. He met up his sister who lived in America through a mutual friend after his liberation. Later that year, Henry moved to America and restarted his life. He went to several army bases and museums to tell his story because of a promise he made to his family and friends during internment: If someone gets out alive, McMillen 7 they must tell the story of the Holocaust. He now lives in Bethesda, Maryland and gives seminars every Friday at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to tell his story of survival to history classes and families alike. Mr. Greenbaum’s story is important to retell and to learn about because it offers insight into almost all key factors of the Holocaust, including a survival of Auschwitz-Birkenau, something that was very uncommon. McMillen 8 The Third Reich: The History of Adolf Hitler and his Rise to Power Many know the Holocaust as a series of events that led to the genocide of almost 6 million European Jews, equal to one-third of the European Jewish population. However, it was much more than just the genocide of the Jewish people. The “Final Solution” was a plan created by Adolf Hitler, originally presented at the Wannsee Conference held in Wannsee, a small suburb of Berlin on January 20, 1942. This plan was carried out by the Nazi SS units, or the German police force. The Final Solution was Hitler’s plan to eradicate the Jewish population of Europe and to create a safe land for the Aryan race, which were mostly people of German descent. All of this culminated into one event that will remain in the limelight for many years to come; the Holocaust. Hitler’s leadership in the Holocaust was vital to the plan, but to understand the Holocaust, one must examine Hitler’s rise to power, World War II, and “Final Solution,” as well as gain a first-hand perspective from someone who was there. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria on April 20, 1889, to his father, Alois Schtickelgruber Hitler, and his third wife, the young Klara Poelzl. From a very young age, Adolf Hitler was a hateful and resentful boy. At the age of 16, he left school to become a painter in Vienna. However, he was quickly rejected by the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts. This sent the adolescent Hitler into a five year downward spiral of “misery and woe” (Wistrich). During these five years, Hitler began to rethink his future; he started thinking of politics. He specifically began his interest in politics when he started studying Mayor Karl Lueger, a Christian Anti-Semitic. Hitler became fixated on the idea of Anti- McMillen 9 Semitism. As the Jewish Virtual Library states his political origins, he observed the ways of Lanz von Liebenfels and Georg von Schoenerer, instigating his fear of the “purity of [German] blood” (Wistrich) becoming corrupted by the “Eternal Jew” (Wistrich). Hitler left Vienna in 1913 to go to Munich to enlist in the armed forces. In 1914, war erupted in Germany, so Hitler enlisted in the 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment and served as a dispatch runner (Wistrich). He received the Iron Cross1 for his bravery in battle. However, he hadn’t escalated quickly enough to become a Lance Corporal. During his career in the military, Hitler was “twice wounded” (Wistrich) and was “badly gassed four weeks before the end of the war” (Wistrich). These wounds only drove his hatred more, causing him to don the idea that he had an obligation to save the country from the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles. He joined the German Workers’ Party, which consisted of about 40 members, and soon changed the party’s name to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Not only did he make all of these changes, he also elected himself to be the Chairman of the party. Hitler soon realized that he was a gifted orator, and gave the party a new symbol and greeting. He adapted the swastika2 to the party’s logo and introduced the greeting, “Heil!”. In a matter of years, Hitler had increased the membership of the party from 40 to 3000 people, and was considered the “Fuhrer of the movement” (Wistrich). The party was strictly anti-communist and eventually became anti-Semitic. When Hitler ran for Chancellor in 1993, he was elected in a legitimate election. This was solely because the people of Germany were scared of the Communist threat. The German people were afraid that Communism would seep into Germany and essentially poison it. Germany elected Adolf Hitler to the position of Chancellor because they thought that they could 1 The Iron Cross is a military honor given for extreme bravery in battle, as well as honor and courage. 2 The swastika was originally a symbol meant to evoke “shakti” or auspiciousness. McMillen 10 manipulate Hitler, using him as a political puppet to prevent Communism. Throughout the next couple of years, the Nazis started spreading their influence through the government. In 1933, shortly after his election, Hitler started implanting Nazi government officials in various places in the German government. In 1934, however, President Hindenburg passed away at the age of 86, leading Hitler to assume power and declare himself Fuhrer of Germany. Shortly after, Hitler forces the military to take an oath of loyalty, essentially stating that they will do whatever it takes to defend Germany, her people, and her leader, Adolf Hitler. Hitler named his territory the Third Reich, and, in his book Mein Kampf, said “One blood demands one Reich.” (Hitler 1). Among other events happening in 1933, Hitler outlawed all other political parties, saying that the Nazi Party was the only necessary party. In 1934, Hitler moved troops into the Rhineland, a demilitarized zone near the Rhine River in Germany (History). However, this action violated the Treaty of Versailles, and Hitler felt nothing. After fully militarizing the Rhineland, Hitler started the funding and arming the Luftwaffe, a new type of German forces. Hitler started his anti-Semitic government actions by restricting Jews the right of German citizenship (Tolischus 1). In February of 1938, Hitler fired 16 senior generals from their positions in the military and assumed total control over the German people (Wistrich). After this arrogant move, Hitler signed a non-aggression pact with Russia to avoid a two-front war. This pact was a precursor to Germany’s invasion of Poland to start World War II. Hitler had his eyes set on Poland, which was previously granted its independence by France and Britain (Wistrich). A year later, Hitler invaded Poland to expand his Nazi empire. They overtook Poland using a new type of warfare: Blitzkrieg. They would McMillen 11 quickly rush airfields with bombers, and follow this with raids and other small skirmishes, almost always by surprise. The theory was adopted into German combat tactics by Heinz Guderian. The “perfect plan” was a quick fighting tactic that was very taxing, but very highly rewarding. If Blitzkrieg attacks were successful, they almost always guaranteed a victory. These methods made Poland a jewel in the eyes of the Fuhrer, and Poland was captured in a month. World War II had begun. World War II, or WWII, started in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and Britain announced that they were at war with Germany shortly after. In 1940, many other countries surrendered to the mighty Nazi Germany, such as Belgium, Norway, and the Netherlands (History Place).

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