The biography of Szyja Blankier, Grojec

In October 1941, I was arrested and sent to the Warsaw Ghetto. It was surrounded by walls and barbed wire and was under strict guard. Any attempt to escape was punishable by death. I was forced to wear the Star of David on an armband. I received my rations through the Jewish Council; the head of the Council was a man named Czernikow.

In October 1942, I managed to escape from the ghetto using a forged pass that I had obtained from a Polish friend. I travelled to various places and eventually arrived in Skarzysko; here I was arrested in September 1943 and sent to the Skarzysko-Kamienna forced labour camp.

Affidavit by Szyja Blankier, Tel Aviv, 11 September 1954

In October 1941, we were all transferred to the Warsaw Ghetto, which was separated from the outside world by a high wall and guarded on one side by the Jewish militia and on the other by the Polish police and the SS. We were under the supervision of a Jewish Council, chaired by Adam Czerniskow, and were still required to wear white armbands with a blue Star of David. I lived at 30 Smocza Street and he lived on Milastrasse, on the corner of Zamenhof. - We both managed to escape from the ghetto in October 1942. - We travelled to various places until we reached Bialobrzeg, where we were arrested at different times and sent off in different directions. -

Mosze Alterman (witness for Szyja Blankier), Affidavit: Tel Aviv, 22 March 1955

Whilst I was in the Warsaw Ghetto, I met Mr Szyja Blankier there in October 1941; he was born on 15 May 1922 in Groek, Poland [...] We carried out various forms of forced labour together there. We remained there together until October 1942, after which I lost track of him.

Jechiel Lidsbarski (witness for Szyja Blankier), Affidavit, date unknown

In August 1944, I was transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp. I spent two weeks in the quarantine barracks and received almost nothing to eat. I wore prison clothes with a number on them. After two weeks, I was sent to the Schlieben forced labour camp. I was forced to work in the Lehmann weapons factory, manufacturing Panzerfausts. My foreman was called Schmidt, and the director was Küken.

I slept in a room with 30 other men and, despite the hard labour, received only soup and bread as daily sustenance.

Affidavit by Szyja Blankier, Tel Aviv, 11 September 1954

At the end of 1943, transported to Buchenwald, where he carried stones, sent to the Schlieben command near Leipzig in locked trucks. There he worked in the manufacture of bazookas from trotyl, yellow powder. [...]

Expert opinion dated 19 April 1966, Medical Board, Tel Aviv (excerpt)

In autumn 1944, we arrived together in closed cattle cars at the Buchenwald concentration camp. We were given striped clothes with numbers on them. My number was 68159. We were only held there temporarily. From there, we were sent together again, after about two weeks, to [...] Schlieben. The camp was surrounded by electrified barbed wire and strictly guarded by the SS. We lived in wooden barracks and were forced to work in the Lehmann weapons factory producing Panzerfausts. We worked in alternating day and night shifts, each lasting 12 hours.

Elizer Weinberger (witness for Szyja Blankier), affidavit dated 12 February 1956

In August 1944, we were taken together to Buchenwald concentration camp and, after about two weeks, to Schlieben in September 1944. We worked together on the Panzerfaust.

Jechiel Lidsbarski (witness for Szyja Blankier)

In the Buchenwald concentration camp and the Schlieben concentration camp, I had to work day and night shifts in the Panzerfaust factory. When the Allies bombed the munitions factory, I was buried under rubble. It was a miracle that I survived.

Towards the end of the persecution, I was nothing more than a human wreck.

Martin Bernhard (client of Konrad Kittl), undated affidavit