us-005578-irn523327
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Cesia Ratner (born Cesia Honig later Cesia Ritter) was the only child of Naftali and Malka (nee Rozenblit) Honig. She was born on January 10, 1926 in Tarnow, Poland where her father ran a grain exchange. She had a large extended family, and her parents had siblings in Vienna, Berlin and the United States. Cesia attended Polish schools, took piano lessons and had a private Hebrew tutor. The last year before the war she attended a private Hebrew school called Safa Berura. She marched with her school in a patriotic parade, and other Poles greeted them with jeering and screaming. This was Cesia's first experience with antisemitism, and she returned home in tears saying she no longer wanted to live in Poland. Her parents applied for American visas and were awaiting their immigration number, when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Cesia's parents decided to flee and told her to pack a bag of enough clothing for a month. The Honigs took a horse and carriage and joined other refugees fleeing to the east. Cesia packed her favorite fancy clothes which were totally unsuited to the ordeal ahead. After a few days, they encountered Russian soldiers who were now occupying Eastern Poland. The Honigs spent a short time in Lvov and then continued to Stanislawow. Cesia stayed in bed most of the time because she had no winter clothes. Her parents did not want to go deeper into Russia because they had left all their possessions in Tarnow and had heard horror stories about life in the Soviet Union. Instead the Russians expelled them to the smaller town of Brzezany where they remained for the next year and a half. After war broke out between Russia and Germany in June 1941, Cesia's parents wanted to move to the Soviet interior, but now the Russians wouldn't allow them to cross the border. Immediately after the German invasion, Ukrainians unleashed a murderous one day pogrom. The Honigs stayed inside protected by non-Jewish neighbors, but they heard the screams of victims outside…
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had some members with language: fra
has or had subject: 701
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn523327
record resource extent: folders 2
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The papers consist of 53 photographs of Cesia Ritter (née Honig) as a child before World War II and post-war photograph of her rescuers; an employment certificate for her father Naftali Honig in"Deutsche Dachpappenfabrik - Papapo" in Tarnow, Poland, in 1942; and identification card for Cesia Honig issued by ORT in Anvers, Belgium, in 1947; a copy of a letter written to Cesia's uncle in Palestine after the war; and a newspaper article from the New York Post on August 31, 1987.
title: Cesia Ritter papers