The Story of Zysli Tajch (Sophie Klisman)
Lori Klisman Ellis
Her family was put in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto. There her mother, father and Moszek died a slow painful death, before her eyes, from starvation and disease.
Somehow my mother, Faiga and Srulek kept going to work, while being starved and exhausted. After surviving in the ghetto for 4 long years it was liquidated.
Zysla, Faiga and Srulek were transported, by freight trains, to Auschwitz. During the selection Zysla thought it was Dr. Mengele who raised his finger to direct people to the right or left. The ones that were too old, pregnant, too young or sick were sent to the gas chamber
The testimony can be watched in: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B37-tWdtBdr3aTEzVzdabDBCeTA53
Faiga was in front of Zysla and was waved to the right. When Zysla approached Dr. Mengele, he shouted in German “STOP.” She was petrified that she did something wrong. He asked her how old she was. At the time she was only 14 but lied and said she was 18. Then he asked her what year she was born. She told him 1925 instead of 1929, and he waved her to the same direction as her sister. They hugged and cried. They did not know if that line was to live or die, but they were thrilled they were together. She felt this was a miracle that she survived the selection. Srulek was sent to another direction. He looked back at his sisters and they all cried. They never saw him again. The sisters were in Auschwitz approximately 15 days before transported (4 days and nights) to Bergen- Belsen.
They were in Bergen-Belsen for 4-5 weeks, of October 1944. During that period the sisters slept in tents that were cold and wet. My mother got sick with strep throat and a fever. There was no medicine, aspirin or even water. At that point my mother wanted to die. Her sister said to her “You cannot leave me alone. You are the only family I have.” One of the prisoners that used to be a nurse told my mother to gargle with her own urine. This is what saved her life. It was another miracle of her surviving. Zysla and Faiga were not aware that Srulek had also been sent to Bergen-Belsen, because the men and women were separated. Records indicate that Srulek presumably perished at Bergen- Belsen shortly before liberation.
Next, the two sisters had a 13 hours cattle train ride to Salzwedel camp, in Germany. They stayed there for 9 months. They worked an evening shift, in a munition factory. A piece of bread and watered down soup was provided for the day. My mother became extremely ill. She could not stand during roll call and her sister tried to lift her up. One SS Nazi woman had a heart and told her to go back to her barrack. She immediately fell asleep. Within a few minutes a terrible SS Nazi soldier started swearing at Zysla and beating her, to near death, along the forced walk to the munition factory. When Zysla arrived, she was almost dead.
Zysla Tajch was born on July 6th, 1929 in Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland. Her parents were Liba, nee; Rozrazowska, and Berek Tajch. Zysla had two brothers Moszek and Srulek, and one sister Faiga. Another sister, Esteria, died at the age of 9, before my mother was born. The family moved to Łódź when Zysla was 3, and that is where she went to a Jewish school, for a few years, until the Germans invaded Poland and shut down the schools.
Zysla (on the left) and Faiga after the War,1945/6.