Helen Lankin
"Never forget us."
Name at birth
Hela Tauziewicz
Date of birth
08/03/1920
Where were you born?
Where did you grow up?
Czestochowa, Poland
Name of father, occupation
Michael Tauziewicz,
Dry goods, farmer
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Fela Lewkowicz,
Dry goods, farmer
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents, two boys and four girls
How many in entire extended family?
15
Who survived the Holocaust?
One sister, Esther, two cousins and me
One brother, Sol, left for Canada before the war and later came to Detroit. My husband, Aron and I came to Detroit after the war.
I was working in another part of the city when the Nazis came to their neighborhood. The Germans rounded up my family and they were taken to Treblinka to their deaths.
I always regretted not being with my family when they took them to Treblinka. Being left was so difficult. My oldest sister Carola had a 3 ½ year old baby, Gitala Devoira. I regretted not taking the baby to the Church of the Black Madonna in Czestochowa, I thought that in doing so, perhaps the baby somehow would have survived.
I later met up with my sister, Esther, at another concentration camp. I was on a forced march from Flossenbürg to Theresienstadt to Bergen-Belsen. I was taken to Sweden after Bergen-Belsen because I was very sick with typhus.
Name of Ghetto(s)
Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)
Occupation after the war
Millinery, then Seamstress
Spouse
Aron Lankin (Leizerowicz),
Leather cutter at Fisher Body, automobile factory, then self-employed, re-weaver of clothing.
Children
Phyllis Ostroff, special education teacher
Grandchildren
Three: Zack, Siv, and Adam Three great-grandchildren: Noa, Maia, and Eli
What do you think helped you to survive?
I felt that I had no choice.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
Never forget us.
Interviewer:
Charles Silow
Interview date:
02/06/2009
Experiences
Survivor's map
