us-005578-irn597333
title: Lazowski family papers
biographical history: Shraga Feivel (later Philip) Lazowski is the son of Josef and Chaya Gitel Lazowski. Shraga Feivel was born on June 13, 1930 in Bielica, Poland where his father was a prosperous fisherman and his mother owned a fabric store. He had three younger brothers, Rachmil, Abraham, and Aaron, as well as a sister, Rachel. After the start of World War II, the Russians occupied Bielica, and the following summer the German army invaded the town. As they immediately targeted Jewish men, Josef hid in the woods. Philip visited him every couple of days to bring him food. In November 1941, all Jews were evicted from the town. The Lazowskis moved to Zhetel (Dyatlovo, Zdzenciol) and in February they were forced into a ghetto. Jewish life became increasingly imperiled. Germans took Jewish hostages and demanded gold to free them. Fearing the worst, Philip’s parents dug an underground cave-like hiding place. In April, 1942, Philip noticed that the ghetto was surrounded and Germans had begun rounding up Jews. He helped his family get into the cave and covered up the entrance. However Philip himself was caught and marched away to a selection site. Only people with working papers and their families were spared. Frantically Philip looked for someone who would take him as their “son.” The first people he approached rejected him. However, eventually one woman allowed him to come through the selection with her as her third child, thereby saving his life. Philip returned home to discover that his family’s hiding space had not been discovered, and his family was safe. The family remained together for the next few months until August 6, 1942, when the German liquidated the Zhetel ghetto. Philip and his siblings hid in the cave with their mother, while their father hid elsewhere. This time though, their hiding place was discovered. Philip ran but was captured and taken to the movie theater where the ghetto’s Jews were being held. There he found his mother, Rachel, and Aron; his other two brothers and…
has or had holder: us-005578
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
conditions of use: Copyright Holder: Rabbi Philip Lazowski
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/701
type: RecordSet
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn597333/acquisitions/1
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn597333/alternateIDs/1
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/843
identifier: irn597333
has record set type: Item
record resource structure: The Lazowski family papers are arranged as a single series.
record resource extent: folders 4
has or had some members with language: yid
date: circa 1926-1953
has or had some members with language: eng
scope and content: The Lazowski family papers consist of photographs documenting Philip Lazowski’s postwar years in Austria, primarily in the Bad Gastein displaced persons camp; photographs documenting Ruth Lazowski’s postwar years in Italy, primarily in Santa Maria di Leuca and Rome; and the letter Philip Lazowski wrote in 1953 to Miriam Rabinowitz, whom he credited with saving his life during a selection in the Zhetel ghetto, after discovering she lived in Hartford, CT. Philip Lazowski’s photographs depict him with other child Holocaust survivors in Austria from 1945- 1947. One copy print depicts his mother with another woman. Ruth Lazowski’s photographs depict Ruth with her family and other Holocaust survivors in Italy from 1945-1948. This material also includes a 1926 family photograph of Ruth’s mother Miriam (Mania) Dvoretzky Rabinowitz, a family photograph in Zhetel, and a clipping showing Holocaust survivors carrying a banner in a parade. Philip Lazowski’s 1953 letter to Miriam Rabinowitz describes his pleasure at discovering that the stranger who saved his life during a selection in the Zhetel ghetto in 1942 was living in Hartford, CT and his desire to visit her.