us-005578-irn514269-irn514536
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Book; 472 p. ; 9cm. with horizontal 5 cm. x 7cm. glass plate. Bound in blue cloth with a glass plate with a color photograph screwed to the front cover. The photo depicts a horseshoe shaped arrangement of 3 tall wooden structures captioned, Teznia w Ciechocinku.
scope and content: Siddur taken by Michael [Mojsej] Garber, 21, when he fled Warsaw, Poland, for Soviet territory soon after the September 1939 German invasion. Attached to the cover is a glass plate with a photograph of the Teznia w Ciechocinku, 19th century graduated wooden cooling towers in Ciechocinek, Poland. The towers, used to evaporate brine from water, were built in 1825 and 1859, and at 53 feet, were the largest of their kind. Michael received this prayer book from his parents when he was a 12 year old boy preparing for bar mitzvah. He took it, and his tefillin, with him when he escaped. The Soviet authorities sent him to a labor camp but when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, he convinced them to let him work as a physician's assistant. In February 1945, when Poles were allowed to leave Soviet territory, he was a physician for 5 collective farms in Uzbekistan. Michael agreed to marry another Polish refugee and physician, Ella Dworecka, so that her family could return to Poland. Her father promised they could divorce after the journey, but Michael and Ella chose to remain together. Michael's parents, Aron and Frajda, and his sister Bronja and her husband Sam Duvorestki perished during the war.
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn514269-irn514536/alternateIDs/1
has or had some members with language: heb
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn514269-irn514536/acquisitions/1
archival history: The siddur was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Dr. Michael M. Garber.
type: RecordSet
is or was included in: us-005578-irn514269
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
identifier: irn514536
biographical history: Michael, originally Mojsej, Garber was born on December 31, 1918, in Warsaw, Poland, to Aron and Frajda Pentman Garber. Aron was born in 1883 in Rozana, Poland, then part of Imperial Russia. Frajda was born in 1888 in Prozan. His father was a businessman. They moved to Warsaw during World War I (1914-1918) where they married. Aron’s brother Elias married Frajda’s sister Minia, born 1900, and they also moved to Warsaw, and had a son Max, born ca. early 1930s. Aron’s brother Elias, a salesman, also moved to Warsaw. Michael had one sister Bronja. The family was religiously observant, and kept kosher and observed the Sabbath, but they were not orthodox. Michael attended cheder, where he was taught about Judaism and learned Hebrew, and he later attended the private Chinuch School. After graduating in 1936, Michael went to Tours, France, to study medicine. Poland had a long history of antisemitism and admission to medical school was rarely possible for a Jew. The Polish government refused to extend his visa beyond three years, and in late summer 1939, he had to return to Poland. That September, Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Poland. Michael’s father Aron was ordered by the Germans to report to the army citadel for a day of forced labor. Michael went in his father's place and had to dig ditches and remove the horses killed during the bombardment. The German soldiers hit the older Jews about the head and face and yelled at them to work faster. When Michael returned home and described what had happened, his father, who had worked with the Germans during the previous world war (1914-1918) insisted that the Germans were civil and predicted that the war would end soon. Michael was less sure, and, with a school friend, escaped by hiding in a hay wagon to Bialystok in the Russian occupied eastern region. Michael stayed with friends for three weeks and then left for Lvov (later Lviv, Ukraine) in the hope of completing his medical studies. However, he was not accepted since the …
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had some members with language: pol
has record set type: Item
date: approximately 1930
title: Prayer book