Brenda Marczak
"What can I say?"
Name at birth
Brenda Lewkowicz
Date of birth
01/16/1922
Where did you grow up?
Zdunska Wola, Poland
Name of father, occupation
Peretz,
Shoemaker
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Sara Klein,
Homemaker
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents and nine children: Hersz Moishe, Chaim Itzik, Meyer, Baijla (Bela), Rushka (Rose), Bronka (me), Bendet, Helka (Helen), and Eva
How many in entire extended family?
Large extended family
Who survived the Holocaust?
Bendet (Lewkowitz), Bajla (Bienenstock), Rose (Bernbaum), Eva (Wimmer), and Helen (Kosuch) and me
Herman Marczak and I were neighbors in Zdunska Wola, my sister Rose knew him well. We met again in Sweden after the war. My four sisters and I stayed together throughout the Holocaust. In Sweden, we lived in a boarding house. We met other Jewish Holocaust survivors who later would become our husbands.
We were married in Sweden in 1947 and left for America in 1957. We were amongst the last to leave Sweden because illness caused during the Holocaust prevented us from coming to America. We immigrated to Detroit to join the rest of the family.
Name of Ghetto(s)
Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)
Occupation after the war
Seamstress, Ladie's Alterations
Spouse
Herman Marczak,
Restaurant supply then patent medicine store
Children
Sara Green, Jewish Federation of Detroit, Jewish nursery schools working with children with learning disabilities
Grandchildren
Elana and Leora Great-grandchildren: Mason, Jacob, Maya, Reena, Isaac
What do you think helped you to survive?
I survived on nothing. I worked very hard in the Krupp’s ammunition factory working twelve hours a day. I worked like a slave.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
What can I say?
Interviewer:
Charles Silow
Interview date:
08/05/2011
Experiences
Survivor's map
