United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Karl Targownik (1915-1996) was born in Budapest to Herschel and Beile Targownik, Polish Jews who were taking refuge in Hungary during World War I. His family returned to Poland following the war, settling in Bochnia, near Krakow, and Targownik studied science and medicine. He survived the Bochnia ghetto and labor camp, was transferred to the Płaszów labor camp, and was deported to Auschwitz in February 1944. He was assigned to Auschwitz I until May 1944, when he was transferred to Auschwitz II and assigned to the Aufräumungs Kommando at Kanada II, where he was made to clean out the trains following transports. In 1944, he was moved through Sachsenhausen to Dachau and Kaufering, where he was forced to perform forced labor for the Moll Kommando. He survived a death march to the main camp at Dachau and was liberated in April 1945. He worked for the American Intelligence Corps of the Army and completed his medical degree at the University of Heidelberg. He immigrated to the United States in 1949. His parents, sisters, and brothers-in-law perished during the Holocaust.
box 1
The Karl Targownik papers are arranged as two series: I. Biographical materials, 1947-1996, II. Restitution files, 1955-1983
The Karl Targownik papers consist of biographical materials and restitution files documenting Targownik’s partially successful efforts to receive compensation for damages he suffered during his internment in the Bochnia ghetto, Płaszów labor camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sachsenhausen, and Dachau. Biographical materials include birth certificates, tracing materials, continuing medical education documentation, and military service papers documenting Karl Targownik’s birth in Hungary, the ghettos and camps he endured during the Holocaust, continuing medical education courses he attended in the 1970s and 1980s, and his unsuccessful effort to be transferred from the U.S. Army Medical Reserve 109 Hospital to the Reserve Selective Service. This series also includes a booklet compiled by Targownik’s daughter including her memories of him, his personal narratives and memories of the Holocaust, tributes to him, and photocopies of clippings about Targownik and the Holocaust. Restitution files include correspondence, forms, instructions, and medical records documenting Targownik’s efforts to receive compensation for damages he suffered during his internment in the Bochnia ghetto, Płaszów labor camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sachsenhausen, and Dachau. He was partially successful at receiving restitution for his claims of Damage to Body and Health and Damage to Freedom, but he was unsuccessful at receiving restitution for his claims of Damage to Professional Advancement and Damage to Property and Fortune. Most of the correspondence is among Targownik, the United Restitution Organization, German consulates, the Landesamt fur die Wiedergutmachung, the Justizministerium Baden-Württemberg, the Landgericht Stuttgart, and various doctors and psychiatrist Targownik consulted, but there is also some correspondence with the Bundeskanzleramt, the Bundesminister fur Wirtschaft und Finanzen, Congressmen Chester L. Mize and William Roy, and Senator Bob Dole. The correspondence documents Targownik’s disappointment with the Wiedergutmachung process, his feelings of continued humiliation and victimization, the deterioration of his health, and broader examinations of the psychological effects of Wiedergutmachung on Holocaust survivors.
Karl Targownik papers