 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
[Click photos for larger images. Opens in a new window.]
Name of the exhibit: Photo, documents, and articles (maternal side of the family)
Submitted by: Les Grumach
Date of origin: 1942
Origin of the object: This is a photo taken in the Krakow ghetto in Poland. It shows my maternal grandfather, Salo Langer, and some other Jews being forced to shovel snow under the direction of the Nazis. He is on the side, holding the shovel over his shoulder.
Description: During the Nazi occupation of Poland, my grandfather and his family were warned a day before the liquidation of the ghetto. They managed to escape and take their niece Lily Broder with them as well. They all spoke German fluently as well as Polish, which probably helped them survive. In 1946, after the Kielce pogrom, they decided to emigrate. Fortunately they had some funds waiting in London as Salo had been an agent for a Swiss watch company. They managed to get to Marseilles and sailed on a ship called the Monkey to Sydney, Australia. My grandmother was a great business woman, trading in antiques and fine arts in Poland. When they moved to Melbourne, she started an antique business called “House of Art”.
Voyage to Ottawa: Salo Langer, his wife Guta (Katzner), and their daughter Alicia emigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1946. The photo came into my possession after my parents died and has been with me ever since.