United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Monius (later Martin) Spett was born on December 2, 1928, in Tarnow, Poland. In September 1939, the city was occupied by Nazi Germany. In 1940, the German authorities removed Monius and his family from their apartment. During the first massacre of Jews, Monius hid in an attic. The family was able to hide during two more roundups. In May 1943, the family was registered, allegedly to be exchanged for German prisoners of war, because Monius' mother, Sala, was born in the United States. They were taken by train to Krakow and then to Bergen Belsen concentration camp in Germany. They were to be transported to Theresienstadt ghetto labor camp in German occupied Czechoslovakia, but the Allied troops' advance stopped the transport. Monius was liberated by American troops on April 13, 1945. After the war, he spent some time in Belgium and then immigrated to the United States in 1947.
folder 1
The collection is arranged as a single series.
The papers consist of Holocaust-era documents and photographs relating to the Spett family, originally of Tarnów, Poland. Documents include identification papers, marriage certificate, work registration document, a document confirming that Sala Spett was a prisoner in Bergen-Belsen, and a DP index card issued by the Allied Expeditionary Force to Arthur Spett. Photographs include pre-war and post-war family photographs, and a group of Army Signal Corps photographs likely depicting the liberation of Dachau.
Martin Spett papers