Sam Seltzer

"We hope it will never happen again."

Name at birth

Shmul Sielcer

Date of birth

01/25/1925

Where were you born?

Modrzejów (Będzin, Kielce, Poland)

Where did you grow up?

Sosnowiec, Poland

Sam Seltzer was born in Modzurów, Poland. Sam's family consisted of his mother, father and five siblings. Following the outbreak of the war, his mother and siblings attempted to flee east to the Russian border. They were unable to complete their journey, instead staying with Sam's older sister in the small town of Zawiercie. After a brief time, Sam returned to Modzurów, until he was rounded-up by the Germans and placed in a number of forced- labor camps, including Sosnowiec, Klettendorf, Geppersdorf, Brande, Graeditz, Faulbrück and Annaberg. In 1944, Sam was sent to Auschwitz. After several weeks in Birkenau, Sam volunteered to work as a mechanic and was sent to a labor Kommando attached to Buchenwald. Sam was liberated in Buchenwald in April 1945. After liberation, Sam was hospitalized in Feldafing, Germany where he was reunited with his brother and the two emigrated to the United States.

Please refer to Sam Seltzer’s memoir Fences That Kill written by Dr. Richard B. Traitel, Martha Seltzer, and Sam Seltzer
To learn more about this survivor please visit the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive, University of Michigan-Dearborn.
https://holocaust.umd.umich.edu/interview.php?D=seltzer&section=41

Name of Ghetto(s)

Poland / Sosnowiec

Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)

Auschwitz Birkenau / Brande / Buchenwald / Faulbruck / Geppersdorf / Gradic / Johannsdorf / Klettendorf

What DP Camp were you after the war?

Yes, in Feldafing, Germany

When did you come to the United States?

1951

Where did you settle?

First in Chicago, then to Detroit

How is it that you came to Michigan?

Sam had an uncle who lived in Detroit