Jack Glotzer’s Memoir I Survived the Holocaust Against All Odds

I SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST AGAINST ALL ODDS

A Unique and Unforgettable Story of a Struggle for Life

By Jack Glotzer

First Edition Compiled and Edited in 2000 by
Alexander Walzer and Beatrice Glotzer

Second Edition Prepared and Edited in 2018 by
Mitchell Glotzer, Marla Raucher Osborn, and Jay Osborn

Bilingual Print Edition Prepared and Edited in 2022 by
Marla Raucher Osborn, Jay Osborn, Vitalii Bobrov, and Anatolii Podolskyi

 

Unless otherwise noted, all historical and family photos are courtesy the Glotzer–Barban Family Collection,
and all modern photos are courtesy the NGO Rohatyn Jewish Heritage.

 

IN MEMORY OF MY BELOVED MOTHER TOBA GLOTZER, MY BROTHERS SAMUEL AND MOSHE EMANUEL,
AND MY RELATIVES WHO WERE BRUTALLY MURDERED IN THE GERMAN HOLOCAUST.

I SHALL NOT FORGIVE, AND I SHALL NOT FORGET YOU.

 

לְמַעַן יֵדְעוּ, דּוֹר אַחֲרוֹן–בָּנִים יִוָּלֵדוּ; יָקֻמוּ, וִיסַפְּרוּ לִבְנֵיהֶם

So that the last generation may know – sons yet to be born – they will arise and tell their own sons.
(Tehillim 78:6)

 

שִׁמְעוּ-זֹאת, הַזְּקֵנִים, וְהַאֲזִינוּ, כֹּל יוֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ; הֶהָיְתָה זֹּאת בִּימֵיכֶם, וְאִם בִּימֵי אֲבֹתֵיכֶם
עָלֶיהָ, לִבְנֵיכֶם סַפֵּרוּ; וּבְנֵיכֶם, לִבְנֵיהֶם, וּבְנֵיהֶם, לְדוֹר אַחֵר

Hear this, ye old men,
And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days,
Or in the days of your fathers?
Tell ye your children of it,
And let your children tell their children, And their children another generation.
(Joel 1: 2–3)

 


CONTENTS

FOREWORD TO THE 2018 EDITION

“IT WAS A VERY TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE THAT I SHALL NEVER FORGET” – Foreword from the Publishers

OUTLINE MAP OF ROHATYN AND SURROUNDING AREAS

JACK GLOTZER’S FAMILY TREE

I SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST AGAINST ALL ODDS

Early Childhood Years, Until the Outbreak of World War II: September 1, 1939
Life Under Soviet Occupation: September 1939 – June 1941
Under German Occupation – Life in the Rohatyn Ghetto: End of 1941 – March 20, 1942
1st Aktion: March 20, 1942
Death of My Grandmother Leah Barban
2nd Aktion: Yom Kippur Day 1942
3rd Aktion: December 1942
The Liquidation of the Rohatyn Ghetto: June 6, 1943
Hiding Out After the Liquidation of the Rohatyn Ghetto: June 1943
Hiding Out in the Łopuszna and Cześniki Woods: July 1943
Hiding Out in the Woods of Podwysokie: End of July 1943
Hiding Out Again in the Woods of Łopuszna: Autumn and Winter 1943
Tragedy in Our Hiding Place in the Woods of Łopuszna: March 1944; Return to the Woods: April 1944
The Soviet Army Arrival at the Village of Łopuszna: June 6, 1944
Return to Rohatyn: End of June 1944
Service in the Russian Army: July 1944 – March 1946
Return to Rohatyn from the Army
Departure from Rohatyn to Poland and Germany: May – July 1946
In Bayreuth, Bavaria (Germany): Summer 1947 – June 1949
Tragic Discovery – My Early Years in the USA

El MALEI RAHAMIM

A NOTE ABOUT THE TEXT

(A pdf copy of this memoir is available for free download on this page.)

 

Published by the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies, (UCHS), Kyiv. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.


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