Max Pines
"Be industrious, don't give up."
Name at birth
Mordka Pinczewski
Date of birth
01/07/1921
Where did you grow up?
Lowicz, Poland
Name of father, occupation
Anczel Pinczewski,
Baker
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Hudesa Gross,
Homemaker
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Eight
How many in entire extended family?
28
Who survived the Holocaust?
Just me
When the war started, I went to Skerniewicz to live with my grandmother for five months, I came back to Lodz, the ghetto was later set up. I was sent to Germany to work in labor camps and transferred from labor camp to labor camp then to concentration camps to work. On being transferred to Bergen-Belsen, the train was bombed by US Air Force and I was able to escape. I traveled for days until I was freed. Later the Committee (Joint Distribution Committee) gave me a residence. In 1948, I went to work for the US Army.
Name of Ghetto(s)
Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)
Auschwitz Birkenau
/
Buchenwald
/
Buna
/
Finkenherd
/
Furstenberg
/
Grunow
/
Kroitsea
/
Libinow
/
Monowitz
/
Spiegelberg
/
Zelchow
Where did you go after being liberated?
Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
Where did you settle?
Detroit, Michigan
Occupation after the war
Sheet Metal Worker
When and where were you married?
1954
Spouse
Lola Pines,
Homemaker
Children
Ester (Pines) Tal, administrative assistant and Jack Pines, physician
Grandchildren
Three
What do you think helped you to survive?
Skilled labor and it was a miracle.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
Be industrious, don't give up.
Interviewer:
Charles Silow
Interview date:
09/18/2003
