be-002157-kd 00952
title: Lucy Wolkowitz. Collection
has or had holder: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/institutions/be-002157
has or had some members with language: nld
conditions of access: Contact Kazerne Dossin Research Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/556
record resource extent: 1 interview (2 parts - 48 minutes) and 1 photo
accruals: No further accruals are to be expected
type: RecordSet
conditions of use: Contact Kazerne Dossin Research Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu
has record set type: Collection
scope and content: This collection consists of a photo of and an interview with Lucy Wolkowitz. In her testimony Lucy talks about her childhood in Piotrkow Trybunalski, her life in the ghetto of Piotrkow, the different labour camps she and her mother Laja Perlowicz survived, living conditions at Bergen-Belsen and the death of her mother Laja Perlowicz there, Lucy's voyage to Sweden, being reunited with her father Wolf Wolkowitz and her life in Sweden, the United States and Belgium after the war.
archival history: Lucy Wolkowitz was interviewed in Antwerp by Betty Swaab, volunteer at Kazerne Dossin, on 10 October 2022.
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/904
has end date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/2022-12-31
has beginning date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/2022-01-01
identifier: KD_00952
biographical history: Lusia alias Lucy Wolkowitz was born on 20 May 1937 in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland, as the only child of Wolf Wolkowitz (born on 7 November 1898 in Piotrkow, Poland) and Laja alias Rosalie Perlowicz (born on 13 August 1900 in Piotrkow, Poland). Lucy’s parents had married late and had no other children. Lucy’s father Wolf had a shop that specialised in bikes and small electronics, while her mother Laja was a housewife who took care of Lucy. Both her parents doted upon her. The Wolkowicz family still lived in Piotrkow Trybunalski near Lodz when Nazi-Germany invaded Poland on 1st September 1939. In early October already, the first Jewish ghetto of Poland was established in Lucy’s hometown. She and her parents were forced to move from their nice apartment into a small room in the ghetto. Lucy’s father Wolf also lost his job. In late 1944, Lucy and her parents were deported from the Piotrkow ghetto to Buchenwald where Lucy and her mother Laja were separated from her father Wolf who was taken away as a forced labourer. In Buchenwald, Lucy stayed with her mother who also had to work, but soon after Lucy and her mother were moved to Ravensbrück where young Lucy was separated from her mother during the day when Laja had to go to work. In January 1945, Lucy and her mother were transferred to Bergen-Belsen. The living conditions there were appalling. On 15 April 1945 Bergen-Belsen was liberated by the British army. Lucy and her mother Laja were transferred to nearby barracks formerly used by the German Wehrmacht and now in use as a field hospital. Unfortunately, Lucy’s mother Laja suffered from typhoid fever and she died on 20 May 1945 with Lucy present. Lucy stayed at the hospital until she could stand again by herself, after which she passed through a collection point for orphans of Bergen-Belsen. She was then sent to Malmö, Sweden, on 25 July 1945, not aware that her father was still alive. When Wolf discovered that Lucy was alive and well, he also came to Sweden where they…
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/be-002157-kd_00952/acquisitions/1