FIRST PERSON
A Son’s Promise
A
t 90, Raymond Fishler of Wayne is a
Holocaust survivor whose memoir,
Once We Were Eight, tells of his suffering
before moving to the United States in
1949. Born in a small town near Krakow,
Poland in 1925, Fishler was age 14 when
World War II began.
months of the war on death marches at different concentration camps. Two days before the war ended, we escaped.
We were the only survivors from my family of eight.
After the war, we lived in a Displaced Persons Camp in
Germany for four years. At the camp, I organized outings,
sports events and a convenience store stocked with supplies
DPs couldn’t buy outside because of rationing.
FEAR AND FORTITUDE
L’CHAIM: TO LIFE
I believe I’m a lucky man. Hitler’s plan was to completely wipe out the Jews from Europe, but he did not succeed.
We were dehumanized, always hungry and in mental
anguish with constant fear of being killed, but we stood
together, started our lives again and thrived.
My grandfather was killed by the Nazis, and the rest of
my family split up and went into hiding. My sister and
I hid in a friend’s barn where we listened to planes
and bombing outside. The last time I saw my mother,
I promised her that if I survived the war I’d go to her
sister in America and tell the world what they did to us.
A STITCH IN TIME
Eventually, my father and I were transported to Plaszow
Camp. He was a tailor, so I volunteered to turn an old
building into a tailor factory. Our first job was to rip apart
clothing of Jews who’d been killed, looking for any jewelry
or money they might have hidden. We spent the last five
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WAYNE MAGAZINE BACK TO SCHOOL 2015
I arrived in the United States in 1949, got a job in the
garment industry and eventually owned my own business.
I never really liked sewing, but learned the trade inside and
out.
It took me 13 years to get married because I was afraid
I’d make my partner’s life bitter. I’m happily married to my
wife, Rhoda, now for 56 years. We have two children and
four grandchildren. I always fear something might happen
to them, but I don’t fear for myself. I know that I went
through so much and was able to withstand it.
My daughter and wife encouraged me to write a book.
I tried for over 70 years, but the memories were too
painful. Rhoda later hired an editor to help me tell my
story in Once We Were Eight (ISBN 9781620308523 at
www.thebookpatch.com), and then she and my daughter
authenticated the facts. ■
– As told to Carol Bott Jarger
NORTH JERSEY MEDIA GROUP
Wayne’s Ray Fishler tells of surviving the Holocaust in his published memoir