us-005578-irn521466
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Abraham Lewent was born on July 27, 1924, to Raphael Nachman and Hena Lea Rozbruch Lewent in Warsaw, Poland, where both families had lived for several generations. He had three younger sisters: Pola, b. March 1926, Chava, b. October 1928, and Chaia, b. June 1930. His father Raphael was born July 1902 to Mordechai and Esther Eibeshitz Lewent, and had four siblings: Shlomo, Moshe, Yaakov, and Chava. Mordechai owned a hardware store. Abraham’s mother Hena was born September 1904 to Elchonan and Deborah Rozbruch, and had a brother Shmuel. Elchonan owned a clothing factory and retail store, Firma Baranek. Raphael managed the factory and Shmuel the store. The family lived in a Jewish neighborhood, spoke Yiddish and Polish, and had a live-in maid. Abraham attended a Polish school and a Jewish cheder. The large, extended family was very close and, in 1938, Abraham’s paternal great-grandmother, Rivka Eibeshitz, moved in with them. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Warsaw was bombed and they had no water, heat, or food. For weeks, they ate only rice and sour pickles that Abraham stole from a destroyed pickle factory. German troops occupied the city on September 29. They distributed bread, but when Abraham and his sister stood in line, a Polish boy identified them as Jews and they were tossed out of line. A German soldier was killed and 53 Jewish men, women, and children were taken from a nearby building and shot in the streets. In October, the Germans confiscated the family factory. Abraham’s father and grandfather took fabric and hid it at home. Abraham’s great grandmother Rivka died circa November. On November 23, Jews were required to wear Star of David armbands. The ghetto was established on October 12, 1940, in the area where the Lewent family lived, and sealed in November. People taken away for work details were unrecognizable from beatings and malnutrition when they returned. Raphael bartered cloth and cigarettes made from stolen tobacco for bread. So many …
has beginning date: 1945-01-01
has end date: 1950-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 2
has or had identifier: 1
has or had identifier: 3
has or had some members with language: heb
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had some members with language: yid
has or had some members with language: pol
has or had subject: 1106
has or had subject: 177
has or had subject: 636
has or had subject: 43
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn521466
record resource extent: folders 6
record resource structure: The Abraham Lewent papers are arranged as a single series: I. Abraham Lewent papers, 1945-1950
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The Abraham Lewent papers include biographical materials, correspondence, immigration materials, poems, and personal narratives documenting Abraham Lewent, the concentration camps he survived during the Holocaust, his refugee and displaced person status and job training after liberation, and his immigration to the United States. Biographical materials include a list of the places Lewent was incarcerated, a certificate documenting his detention in Dachau, an identification card from the Feldafing displaced persons camp, a membership card for the Council of Warsaw Jews in the American Zone of Germany, a Munich public transportation pass, a notice indicating that a lung condition would delay Lewent’s Alijah, a Jewish Agency for Palestine certificate of registration, an ORT school identification card and professional testing certificate, an International Refugee Organization professional testing certificate and affidavit attesting to Lewent’s identity, Munich Jewish Community membership card, a work card, and a hospital canteen card. Correspondence includes tracing materials from the Jewish Agency and International Refugee Organization documenting Lewent’s efforts to trace his relatives and a letter from the Yiddish Workers’ Committee in New York City documenting Yiddish books Lewent had given the Committee. Immigration materials include correspondence with the Displaced Persons Commission, Hebrew Immigration Aid Society, and International Refugee Organization; an affidavit of support; baggage checks and tags; a news bulletin from Lewent’s transatlantic crossing; and an application initiating the naturalization process. Writings consist of two notebooks containing Lewent’s personal poems, notes, and observations about Jewish life in Warsaw, the ghetto, and antifascist resistance. Most are in Yiddish and some are in Polish.
title: Abraham Lewent papers