One random act

Zoog mir in Yiddish

By Sol Awend, GenShoah SWFL

Growing up, I would spend hours listening to my second father, Josef Kupferminz, telling me what it was like living through the Holocaust. I would ask questions in Yiddish, and he’d further explain his experience. Listening to his dialogue in Yiddish was spellbinding.

As World War II was drawing to a bitter and final conclusion, Josef was caught up in a series of tragic events. He, his wife and young son were among the first residents of the Lodz Ghetto and would be among the last to leave. Living by his wits, Josef was able to keep his family alive until August 1944 when the Ghetto was being dissolved and the deportations began. Destination —Auschwitz. As he stood in line with his wife and child, he was white hot with fear. The time came to part and in the blink of an eye and a hug, they were separated.

While in Auschwitz, he worked at various jobs and dealt with the misery of constant starvation and brutality. In late March 1945 and nearing the loss of his senses and grappling with a desire to live, Josef was herded onto a train bound for Dachau. But he stayed there for just a short time.

Germany was losing the war. In their attempt to hide their crimes, they were shipping prisoners west on death marches and train rides to more distant places. Josef was ordered onto a train out of Dachau. Imagine his surprise when he boarded a passenger train, not a cattle car, and given a Red Cross packet!

Hundreds of people were on this transport, destined for the mountains in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Swiss Alps. Everyone was anxious to get moving, especially the German guards. Josef was a short fellow and wedged himself in a seat near a window. He didn’t want to part with his Red Cross packet, so he wedged it in the latch of the emergency break switch — unaware that this action would have a profound impact on everyone on that train.

When it came time to leave, the train could not move. It did not move for some two days, until one of the passengers saw Josef remove the packet. The passenger told the guard. The guard dragged Josef off the train and beat him to within an inch of his life. After he regained his senses, he got back on that train.

Traveling nonstop, they made it into the mountains. When Josef and the other riders got off the train, they were met with cold weather and scattered shooting in the distance. Everyone stood there, and realized they were to be shot. But the guards were not to be seen, and no one died from being shot. They were liberated! What Oskar Shindler took years to accomplish, Josef completed in one random act.

This story was verified by a most respected survivor who was on that transport with Josef — Leo Wolf. Leo was a friend of Josef and a founding sponsor of the St. Louis Holocaust Museum as well as a noted member of the Holocaust Museum in Washington. Leo went on to tell of his experience on the train in his testimony at the St. Louis Holocaust Museum.

Generations have been born since that day, and countless lives have enjoyed the fruits of freedom and blessing, all because of one random act.

Words and phrases spoken during our conversations:

1. Deh VISH ed LENyehs (The deportations)

Deh Vish ed lenyehs ot oogeh hoyben in deh free. (The deportations started in the morning.)

2. OFF geh layest (To be dissolved, dismembered.)

Mot off geh layst Deh Ghetto in zimmeh feer un fert’zig. (The ghetto was dissolved in the summer of ’44.)

3. Deh Kreeg (The war)

Deutschlaand ot fah loyren Deh Kreeg. (Germany lost the war.)

4. Deh TOYT (Death)

Mot geh seideh geh kik’t deh Toyt in dee oygen. (One constantly looked death in the face.)

5. Dee BER-geh (Mountains)

Dee bergeh zenen geh vayzen oogeh fallen mit shnei. (The mountains were covered with snow.)

6. Dee ROY-teh Kreut’z Paaketen (The Red Cross packets)

Zy ob’n ins geh gayben Royteh Kruet’z Paaketen. (They gave us the Red Cross packets.)

7. AHN geh HAALten (Held up, a standstill)

Dee baan ot zec’h ahn geh haalten (The train was held up.)

8. Deh HA mooh LETZ (The hand brake)

T’zeh leep deh ha moo let zot deh baan nisht geh ken’t gein. (Because of the hand brake, the train couldn’t move.)

9. SHEEsen (Shooting)

Mott geh hayet sheesen in dee vaah ten. (You could hear shooting in the distance.)

10. KAH t’zet nik(s) (Concentration Camp inmate(s), prisoner(s).)

Nebec’h ah saac’h dee Kah t’zetniks zenen ihm geh kimmen. (Unfortunately, a lot of the inmates were overcome.)