Wolf Gruca
"I hope to G-d that they will not go through what I went through, no wars and no genocide."
Date of birth
02/06/1920
Where were you born?
Where did you grow up?
Czestochowa, Poland
Name of father, occupation
Josef,
Shoemaker
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Mirl Minka,
Homemaker
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents, four brothers: Avram, Isser, Shlomo and me, the youngest; and two sisters: Rachel and Ziesel
How many in entire extended family?
About 60-70. My father had three brothers and one sister, all married. My mother had four brothers and one sister, all married.
Who survived the Holocaust?
Just me
I went to a trade school.
In the Czestochowa Ghetto, the Germans first killed all the older people and later when it was discovered young people were gathering ammunition, they were killed too. In my last concentration camp, Osterode Am Harz, we ate cooked leaves six days a week and worked twelve hours a day, seven days a week.
Name of Ghetto(s)
Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)
What DP Camp were you after the war?
Yes, Braunschweig in Germany, then Bergen-Belsen
When did you come to the United States?
1949
Where did you settle?
Detroit, Michigan
How is it that you came to Michigan?
I had a cousin here.
Occupation after the war
Tool maker
When and where were you married?
I met my wife in the DP camp and we married six weeks later.
Spouse
Regina, died in May, 2000
Children
Josef, Mary Starr, and Suzanne
Grandchildren
Five
What do you think helped you to survive?
If I was not a toolmaker, I would not have survived. They needed my profession in all of the camps I was in.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
I hope to G-d that they will not go through what I went through, no wars and no genocide.
Interviewer:
Charles Silow
Interview date:
11/12/2008
To learn more about this survivor, please visit:
The Zekelman Holocaust Center Oral History Collection
https://www.holocaustcenter.org/visit/library-archive/oral-history-department/gruca-wolf/
https://www.holocaustcenter.org/visit/library-archive/oral-history-department/gruca-wolf/
Experiences
Survivor's map
