us-005578-irn42108
type: RecordSet
has beginning date: 1945-01-01
has end date: 1950-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had subject: 701
has or had subject: 843
has or had subject: 691
has record set type: Item
history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
history: Hirsch (later Henry) Kolber was the oldest child of Markus and Leona (nee Mandelberg) Kolber. Hirsch was born on June 6, 1923 in Przysietnica (Kracow, Poland) where his father owned a lumber yard and his mother operated a grocery store and inn. His brother Aaron was born in Przysietnica in 1925. Soon after his birth the family moved to Barcice near the Czech border, where his three sisters were born: Manya was born in 1927; Mina was born in 1930; and Genia was born in 1933. There were only a few Jewish families in the village, and the Kolbers maintained good relations with their Polish neighbors. Hirsch attended public elementary school in Barcice and then went to gymnasium in the neighboring town, Stary Sacz. The family shared a large house with Hirsch's aunt, uncle and cousins. Immediately after the start of World War II, the Kolbers fled to Stary Sazc, since it had a larger Jewish community, and stayed with friends there. As soon as they arrived, the Germans rounded up all the Jews, separated the men and women, and held them in the high school as hostages. After their release, the family returned to Barcice. Markus handed over his lumberyard to a sympathetic Pole of German extraction while continuing to work there with Aaron. Hirsch performed different forced labor including snow shoveling and road building. In May 1942 German authorities selected 100 young men to work in Rabka, approximately 80 kilometers away. Rabka had been a health resort before the war and now housed a school for the SS under the command of Wilhelm Rosenbaum. After they arrived, Rosenbaum had the Jewish men count off by tens. He then proceeded to shoot every tenth man. The others had to dig a ditch and bury the victims. Rosenbaum continued to select new victims each week. Despite Rosenbaum's brutality and the back-breaking work digging a tunnel in a mountain, the Jewish youth wore civilian clothes, and lived in the homes of Jewish families in the town who also fed them. They also were period…
identifier: irn42108
record resource extent: folders 2
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Consists of photographs and documents related to Henry Kolber's experiences as a refugee in post-war Switzerland and his immigration to the United States on the SS Drottningholm in 1947. Also includes a memory booklet signed by fellow refugees in 1945, a musical score entitled"Bitte um Menschwerdun" and letter dated 1950, both written by Rudolf (Ruedi) Schaerer.
title: Henry Kolber collection