http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Interview with Rosalie (Chris) Laks Lerman December 1, 1998 and January 13, 1999 RG-50.030*0396 This is a verbatim transcript of spoken word. It is not the primary source, and it has not been checked for spelling or accuracy. http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection PREFACE The following oral history testimony is the result of a videotaped interview with Rosalie (Chris) Laks Lerman, conducted by Joan Ringelheim on December 1, 1998 and January 13, 1999 on behalf of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The interview took place in Washington, DC and is part of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's collection of oral testimonies. Rights to the interview are held by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The reader should bear in mind that this is a verbatim transcript of spoken, rather than written prose. This transcript has been neither checked for spelling nor verified for accuracy, and therefore, it is possible that there are errors. As a result, nothing should be quoted or used from this transcript without first checking it against the taped interview. This is a verbatim transcript of spoken word. It is not the primary source, and it has not been checked for spelling or accuracy. http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection ROSALIE (CHRIS) LAKS LERMAN December 1, 1998 and January 13, 1999 Q: Good morning, Chris. Welcome to Washington. A: Good morning, Joan. Q: Can you tell me the name that you were born with, and where and when you were born? A: I was born in Starachowice, Poland, March 5th, 1926. My Hebrew name was Rachel. My given name on the birth certificate reads Rozalia Laks. I also was known as Rozka or Rosha Laks, and during the war, when we were brought from the Auschwitz camp to Ravensbrück, I had decided that it would be easier to survive with an assumed Christian name, and due to the fact that no records have followed our departure from Auschwitz, when we were on the death march, once we arrived at the table where they registered the new transports, we changed our names to a Christian name – last name and first name in my case, the name Gorska – I assumed the name Krystyna for it to be a real Christian name. Q: So, you have many names… A: Many names. Q: …in your life? A: Right. Q: Can you tell us about your family – your father, your mother, what they were like, what they did, and then about you and your two sisters? A: We were growing up in a small town, population about 35-40,000, and it was – I would say that the Jewish population amounted to approximately ten percent, no more, due to the fact that there were large factories in the city, in the town, which were government – belonged to the government, and the people who were employed in those factories – they were manufacturing ammunitions, and also they had foundries and iron ore mines – People who were employed in the factories were mostly Christian people, gentile people. Jews were involved in predominately business and they were artisans and craftsmen, and this was more or less the composition of the town. The town – the Jewish population in town was very well organized. We had a lot of different organizations. And I as a child could only get more or less from the conversation that I overheard at home, you know, about my parents being involved in the community going to different meetings. They were predominately involved with Zionist organizations. They were not orthodox or religious people, but they were traditional Jews. My parents had a kosher home and I would say that we observed the main holidays. I don’t think that my father was going to synagogue every day. I know he didn’t. And as far as we were concerned, as youngsters, This is a verbatim transcript of spoken word. It is not the primary source, and it has not been checked for spelling or accuracy. http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection USHMM Archives RG-50.030*0396 2 as soon as we were old enough, we too joined Zionist youth groups because this was sort of saying the whole idea that eventually we will all make our way to Palestine. As far as my parents are concerned, they were very active in the community – Mother in particular, more so, because Father was a lot away from home. Father’s involvement in the community never was as involved as was my mother’s. He was what they call – I don’t know the name, there is no equivalent in the English language – but it is Brakaź. What this – what he has – what he did, he was evaluating… How to say it? Actually he was an appraiser of large tracts of forest because he was representing a very large international companies that supplied timber to German companies and British companies. They used the timber for support in mines. So, he was working for a company like this, and before the companies went into the negotiation of the purchase of the timber, they had to have an idea more or less of what – how many trees they are, what it will yield, and so forth, because they had to pay tremendous amounts of money. So, my father’s job was to travel to the forests and, in most cases, with the assistant of the forester, they went into the woods and he was estimating, more or less, you know, how many trees there are on the tract, how thick they are, what the yield would be, and when he was coming home from the trip, he used to sit and prepare specifications, and on the basis of his specifications, the companies went into the negotiations for the purchase. So, he wasn’t that much around because usually once he went away, it was like three to four, sometimes five weeks before he’d return home, and when he’d return home he used to sit, you know, for hours and hours and hours in his study preparing, you know, the specifications. So, Mother was certainly in charge of the household and the children and seeing to our comfort and overseeing our activities and education and she was a wonderful woman, and really, as far as forming the character, it was Mother’s responsibility. And, to her, education was very, very important. So, outside of the fact that she was very involved with community and the Zionist organization, she formed the WIZO in Starachowice. She was the first president in the WIZO organization. She was a member of regional and the national – no, what’s the word I want to use? – she was a member of the regional…uh… Q: Office? A: …Office, and she also formed for young unmarried women, the young WIZO in town. So, every once in a while, you know, when I wanted to know a little bit more about my parents immediately after the war, I used to turn to those people who – the generation between my parents and my self that could tell me a little bit more about who my parents were. Because basically, you know, to a child a parent is a parent. You don’t think of them as individuals. You just think of them as parents, and they’re there to take care of you and provide for you and make you comfortable whenever it’s necessary. So, with the conversation – in conversations with those people, I found out a lot about my parents and especially from women who were like eight, ten years older then myself who were, you know, already teenagers or a little older who told me how wonderful my mother was and how energetic she was and how inspiring she was in, some would say, in bringing the Zionist idea and inspiring people and so forth and so on. This is a verbatim transcript of spoken word. It is not the primary source, and it has not been checked for spelling or accuracy. http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection USHMM Archives RG-50.030*0396 3 Q: When you speak about your father being away, do you have any recollections of doing things with your father? Going for walks with your father? Or going on a picnic? Or is there some particular kind of recollection? A: Well… Q: Other than his working so hard. A: No, Father was a disciplinarian. He was the head of the family, a typical European head of the family. He was a disciplinarian and a no-nonsense man. And he was outgoing and he was very nice, but still in all, you know, when he spent time with us, I would say that, if you were to compare with present days, you would say it was more quality time rather than otherwise. And, Father was – had a beautiful singing voice. He was, he was born in Silesia, which at the time when he was born, it was German occupied part of Poland that was occupied by Germany. So, I would say at the turn of the century, 1900, that was, his – his world was Vienna, 1900. So, the music, you know, by Strauss and Mahler and Lehár – that was his world.