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Missing mother surrenders
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27-year-old faces neglect charges FROM STAFF REPORTS A mother who went missing a week ago has turned herself in to Sumter Police Department and now faces child neglect charges after leaving her two young children alone. Shardae Evette Davis, 27, of Ritz Mobile Home Park, 611 E. Liberty St. Lot 21, DAVIS was charged Friday with two counts of unlawful conduct toward a child, according to a news release from the police department. She was booked at SumterLee Regional Detention Center. At 5:11 p.m. Jan. 15, officers responded to Davis’ home after a neighbor called 911 about a disturbance at the residence. According to the release, two small children, a nearly 2-year-old and a 5-week-old, were found by officers alone and unharmed before being placed into the care of family members. Davis later contacted police to say she was OK, but was reluctant to come forward because of an outstanding shoplifting warrant in Horry County. If convicted of child neglect Davis faces fines set at the discretion of a judge or a sentence of no more than 10 years in prison for each charge, according to the release. Police are continuing to look for Herbert Linwood Butler, 34, of 114 Willow Drive, earlier a person of interest in the case, who is wanted on a warrant for domestic violence for a previous incident. An investigation is ongoing, states the release. Anyone with information about Butler’s whereabouts is asked to call Sumter Police Department at (803) 436-2700. Tips can also be given anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (803) 436-2718 or 1-888-CRIMESC.
PHOTOS BY KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Bogdan “Nick” Zlotnicki, above, shows the clothing he wore while living in a concentration camp in Austria when he was 8 years old as well a a traditional shirt his mother made. At right is a detail from another traditional Polish shirt made by Zlotnicki’s mother.
At age 8, Sumter man spent 9 months in concentration camp BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com Wednesday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The day, designated by the United Nations, commemorates the genocide that resulted in the death of an estimated 6 million Jews, along with countless other minorities. Sumter resident Bogdan M. “Nick” Zlotnicki, was only 8 years old when he and his family were sent to a concentration camp in Seeboden, Austria, in August 1944. The camp’s residents were not Jewish, as in many of the concentration camps.
They were women, children and elderly men from Eastern European countries occupied by Nazi Germany, he said. The camp interned about 200 people when Zlotnicki was there. Although there were no guards at the camp, except a Nazi commandant from Czechoslovakia, and no barbed wire or other means of securing the inmates, escape was pointless, he said. “There were no guards, but there was no place to go,” Zlotnicki said. “When we arrived at the camp, my mom, Stefania Lyczkowski, had just given birth to my sister three weeks prior and had me and my younger
brother to take care of.” Zlotnicki’s stepfather, the late Michael Lyczkowski, was sent to a labor camp, about 19 miles from the concentration camp where the rest of his family was. Seeboden is located in south central Austria, several hundred miles north of Italy’s border. The name of the camp was “Seebach,” and Zlotnicki’s family was brought there in August 1944. Before their arrival at the camp, the family had lived in Nazi-occupied
Ukraine for about five years. Between 1941 and 1945, more than 2 million Ukrainians were deported to Germany as slave labor.
THE START OF WORLD WAR II, LIFE IN POLAND Zlotnicki, 79, was born in Jaremcze, Poland (modernday Ukraine). In September 1939, the region was captured by Soviet troops and became a part of
SEE SURVIVOR, PAGE A9
Clarendon Chamber president wants to lure new clientele BY RICK CARPENTER rick@theitem.com Even though the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce retreat to Greenville has been delayed or canceled, the president of the organization said he wants to lure more fishermen, golfers, retirees and young professionals to the Clarendon area by promoting reasons to visit.
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Chamber President Pro Prothro said during his tenure he’d like to explore ways to expose the county to potential residents. After all, if they come for a day, they may PROTHRO want to find a way to come back and stay forever, he said. As an example, he pointed
out the Chamber’s current marketing material aimed at golfers from colder climates. Letting them know they can golf year round at three major courses in the county at reasonable rates may encourage weekend getaways to the area. Ditto for the world-class fishing in area lakes. Coupling golfing and fishing with a great health care and hospital system could get
those nearing retirement to take a second look at the area’s reasonable real estate prices. The Chamber retreat had been scheduled for last Friday through today, but was canceled because of inclement weather. The Chamber planned the retreat in Greenville to help business members realize the potential of revitalizing the Manning downtown area.
Greenville Mayor Knox White has led a similar movement in that city for more than 20 years by emphasizing neighborhood revitalization, economic development and transformational projects for Greenville’s downtown area. The Chamber scheduled White as the keynote speaker of the retreat, which would
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