Holocaust Survivors- Intro

Holocaust Survivors
from the Pruzany District

(A PRP document)

PRP (Pruzany district Research Project) presents this document that was produced by combining two source lists.

1) A letter to the PRUZANER BRANCH #244 OF THE WORKMAN'S CIRCLE by Holocaust survivors from the Pruzany district who were at the time in FELDOFFING, GERMANY.

2) A booklet printed in Argentina (in Yiddish) shortly after WWII. This booklet contains personal testimonies and a list of survivors from the Pruzany district.

The list of names presented here is a merge of both lists.
Double asterrsk (**) following the names denote that both lists contain the names.
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Introduction

When WWII ended, the process of Pruzaner’s re-location was initiated. At that time most of survivors were in Germany, some still in refugee camps, while others had migrated towards the West (France, US, Belgium, and Sweden) and others towards the East (Russia). Some returned to their original shtetls and others went to Palestine (now Israel). The Relief and Benevolent Societies particularly in the US and Argentina, were mobilized to assist however possible. Also Pruzaner survivors sent letters requesting that they be rescued and/or helped.

The mobilization had its effect. Many Pruzaners were taken from refugee camps and sent to more comfortable places to live in other countries. Many that were sick (several with tuberculosis) were admitted to hospitals for their health care. Families were rejoined. For many years thereafter help in the form of food, clothing and financial support was provided to the needy.

The documentation of this process was researched by PRP and by individual volunteers. This included a list of survivors that indicated their shtetl of origin, and a letter from survivors that still were in a refugee camp in Feldofing, Germany. We found that the information in the suources was complementary (sometimes redundant), data was merged without loss of the origination (in this process duplicate names in each source are marked by asterisks which may at times will not necessarily be correct. That the names are in fact two seperate people). There are 400 survivors on the combined lists which can be seen via the links below.

It is to be understood that having a family name was a recent phenomenon for Jews; in earlier times they identified themdelves by adding a profession gave their profession, or their nickname, or their relationship to another (for example; son of, mother of, father of). Some of the survivors that returned to Pruzany and Bereza have been highlighted in bold letters because they escaped again due to the progroms prepetrated upon them by Russia.

PRP has obtained many lists of those who donated funds to help the survivors. The donors were former Pruzeners and their children, other relatives or friends. They could be our ancestors. After PRP has completed the processing, we will publish these lists, so we can close the historical sequence to date.

Letter sent in 1945 to the
Pruzany Branch #244, Workman's Circle
(Arbeiters Ring)

COMMITTEE OF 923 JEWISH SURVIVORS FROM PRUZANY, POLAND, WHO LIVE IN FELDOFFING GERMANY, ARE APPEALING TO THE PRUZANER BRANCH #244 WORKMAN'S CIRCLE.

The office of the Jewish workers' committee yesterday gave out some interesting information which reveals that the surviving Jews in the camps in Germany have begun to organize themselves in "landsmanshafts" (brotherhood of neighbors from the old country) in America.

A committee which represents 92 Jewish survivors from Pruzany who live in Camp Feldoffing, Germany, write to Pruzany Branch 244 of the Workman's Circle.

"We are sending you a list of survivors from the city of Pruzany. We are 92 Jews from Pruzany, in the Feldoffing Camp, who have made it through the biggest humiliation in Himmler's concentration camps. We are looking for a warm word from our friends in America. We are seeking a comforting word and if it is possible also a little help from America. "

In the name of the 92 Jews, the following three sign the message: Sender Zachheim, Zalman Urievitz, and Isaac (Yitzhak) Yanovitz.

Friend N. Pollack, secretary of Branch 244 Workman's Circle adds that the above-named three Pruzany Jews are familiar with the Pruzany Branch as a former society in Pruzany. They were active in building the Pruzany Aid Institutions and Schools. As the Pruzany Branch #244 Workman's Circle and the the Pruzany Society Relief, they do what is possible to come to the help of the surviving Jews.

The Holocaust Survivors list
Surnames A-E
Surnames F-N
Surnames O-Z

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