place:"Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland, Europe" found 4 records - The Canadian Jewish Heritage Network

Notes: Single-sided blank page with Long Life Light Ltd. letterhead printed across top. Two newspaper and book clippings taped to opposite side with typed descriptions. One of the three clippings listed has been removed. First remaining clipping shows an Eastern wall mural and the other is a Shavuot Machzor prayer printed in Piotrkow, Poland, during the Russian occupation. Narrative: Charles Kotkowsky was born in Piotrkow, Poland, in 1920. He was the son of a butcher, and had three siblings. He tried to immigrate to the USA as the Nazi persecution of Jews began, but he was unable to get the necessary documents in time. Meanwhile, he worked as a tailor in Lodz. The Germans entered Lodz on 1939/9/5 and had set up a ghetto by October. Charles worked in a glass factory, but eventually enlisted to avoid being used for forced labour. The Germans began rounding up Jews around Jewish holidays for labour or small transports for Auschwitz and Treblinka. At this time, he began receiving packages of letters and money from Ignac Samsonowicz, his old Yiddish teacher. The glass factory became a labour camp where Charles and his brother worked until they were sent to Czestochowa labour camp in November 1944. They made bullets in the factory there. The women in the glass factory were sent to Ravensbrück. Later Charles was sent to Buchenwald, where he and his friends were assigned easy jobs because their supervisor was a resistance sympathizer. Charles met Leon Blum before he was moved to Flossenburg. On their last transport train Charles and his brother jumped from the train along with many other Jews (some of which were shot in the attempt) and were sheltered in a Czechoslovakian town until the American army arrived. He moved to Italy where he worked as a translator, mostly in doctor's offices. He moved to Canada in 1951.He married Sally Blum, and they had two children, Pearl Levine and Rickie Cohen. Charles died from cancer on 2003/2/8 in Toronto, Canada.

Accession No.: 1998.7.25

Name Access: Kotkowsky, Charles

Places: Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland, Europe

Archival / Genealogical: Archival Descriptions

Repository: Montreal Holocaust Museum

Images

Kotkowsky, Charles - Oral History of a Holocaust Survivor

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn67759

Collection: WITNESS TO HISTORY COLLECTION (MHMC-02)

Description Level: Item

Material Type: moving images

Physical Description: 01:09:37

1 image 1 video

Collection: WITNESS TO HISTORY COLLECTION (MHMC-02)

Description Level: Item

Material Type: moving images

Physical Description: 01:09:37

Creator: Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre

Language: English

Notes: Charles Kotkowsky was born in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland on August 8, 1920. He says that he encountered significant antisemitism growing up. After the German invasion in September 1939, he was made to wear an armband identifying him as Jewish and became afraid to go outside. A ghetto was constructed almost immediately in Piotrkow Trybunalski. Charles worked in a glass factory and was in communication with a Jewish Resistance group. In 1942, he and his brother Shlomo were taken to a nearby labour camp. In November 1944, they were again transferred, first to the HASAG Pelzery, near Cz?stochowa, Poland, and then to Buchenwald in January 1945, where Charles was tormented and humiliated by being forced to strip naked in the freezing cold. Charles was taken on a death march to Floeszberg - a subdivision of Buchenwald - in Febuary 1945. The camp was incomplete, and Charles had to help in its construction. In April the camp was evacuated and the prisoners were placed on a train headed for Czechoslovakia. Along with seven other people, including his brother, Charles jumped off the train and successfully escaped. The group was hidden by sympathetic Czechoslovaks in Plzen, Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia). They were there hiding in a barn when they were liberated by the American Army on May 8, 1945. After the war, Charles mentioned that he was invited to what he described as a “séance,” where he witnessed captured S.S. men being beaten - one of whom was killed. His brother contracted tuberculosis and needed to be moved to a hospital in another town. Unfortunately, Charles could not stay with him in Czechoslovakia for long. He soon moved to a series of DP camps in Italy, working in a doctor’s office. In 1951, he was refused entry into the United States, but was accepted into Canada, arriving there that same year.

Accession No.: WTH-068

Name Access: Kotkowsky, Charles

Places: Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland, Europe

Archival / Genealogical: Archival Descriptions

Repository: Montreal Holocaust Museum

Images

WTH_068_Kotkowsky_Charles_Photo thumbnail

YouTube

Kotkowsky, Charles - Oral History of a Holocaust Survivor

https://www.youtube.com/embed/8hmNmz1HpGo

Piotrkow Trybunalski

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn59568

Collection: Montreal Holocaust Museum

Description Level: Item

Material Type: cartographic material

Physical Description: Map : Paper : Printed : Ink : Pink, blue, beige, green ; Ht: 19 cm x W: 20 cm

2 images

Collection: Montreal Holocaust Museum

Description Level: Item

Material Type: cartographic material

Physical Description: Map : Paper : Printed : Ink : Pink, blue, beige, green ; Ht: 19 cm x W: 20 cm

Other Title Information: Documentary Artifact

Physical Condition: Good

Language: Polish

Notes: Double sided page, no creases, tear down left side where page was torn from source. Coloured street map of Piotrkow Trybunalski. On the back, tourist destinations indicated with contact information, legend, and address. The house of Charles Kotkowsky is marked with pen arrow. Narrative: Charles Kotkowsky was born in Piotrkow, Poland, in 1920. He was the son of a butcher, and had three siblings. He tried to immigrate to the USA as the Nazi persecution of Jews began, but he was unable to get the necessary documents in time. Meanwhile, he worked as a tailor in Lodz. The Germans entered Lodz on 1939/9/5 and had set up a ghetto by October. Charles worked in a glass factory, but eventually enlisted to avoid being used for forced labour. The Germans began rounding up Jews around Jewish holidays for labour or small transports for Auschwitz and Treblinka. At this time, he began receiving packages of letters and money from Ignac Samsonowicz, his old Yiddish teacher. The glass factory became a labour camp where Charles and his brother worked until they were sent to Czestochowa labour camp in November 1944. They made bullets in the factory there. The women in the glass factory were sent to Ravensbrück. Later Charles was sent to Buchenwald, where he and his friends were assigned easy jobs because their supervisor was a resistance sympathizer. Charles met Leon Blum before he was moved to Flossenburg. On their last transport train Charles and his brother jumped from the train along with many other Jews (some of which were shot in the attempt) and were sheltered in a Czechoslovakian town until the American army arrived. He moved to Italy where he worked as a translator, mostly in doctor's offices. He moved to Canada in 1951.He married Sally Blum, and they had two children, Pearl Levine and Rickie Cohen. Charles died from cancer on 2003/2/8 in Toronto, Canada.

Accession No.: 1998.7.211

Name Access: Kotkowsky, Charles

Places: Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland, Europe

Archival / Genealogical: Archival Descriptions

Repository: Montreal Holocaust Museum

Images

Postcard

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn59567

Collection: Montreal Holocaust Museum

Description Level: Item

Material Type: textual record

Physical Description: Postcard : Paper : Printed : Ink : Burgundy, beige, brown, amber, black ; Ht: 10 cm x W: 15 cm

Date: 1990

2 images

Collection: Montreal Holocaust Museum

Description Level: Item

Material Type: textual record

Physical Description: Postcard : Paper : Printed : Ink : Burgundy, beige, brown, amber, black ; Ht: 10 cm x W: 15 cm

Other Title Information: Documentary Artifact

Date: 1990

Physical Condition: Good

Language: Polish

Notes: Postcard format card with image on front and back divided between description, space for brief message, and address. Unused postcard contains images from a local glass artisan shop in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland. Narrative: Charles Kotkowsky was born in Piotrkow, Poland, in 1920. He was the son of a butcher, and had three siblings. He tried to immigrate to the USA as the Nazi persecution of Jews began, but he was unable to get the necessary documents in time. Meanwhile, he worked as a tailor in Lodz. The Germans entered Lodz on 1939/9/5 and had set up a ghetto by October. Charles worked in a glass factory, but eventually enlisted to avoid being used for forced labour. The Germans began rounding up Jews around Jewish holidays for labour or small transports for Auschwitz and Treblinka. At this time, he began receiving packages of letters and money from Ignac Samsonowicz, his old Yiddish teacher. The glass factory became a labour camp where Charles and his brother worked until they were sent to Czestochowa labour camp in November 1944. They made bullets in the factory there. The women in the glass factory were sent to Ravensbrück. Later Charles was sent to Buchenwald, where he and his friends were assigned easy jobs because their supervisor was a resistance sympathizer. Charles met Leon Blum before he was moved to Flossenburg. On their last transport train Charles and his brother jumped from the train along with many other Jews (some of which were shot in the attempt) and were sheltered in a Czechoslovakian town until the American army arrived. He moved to Italy where he worked as a translator, mostly in doctor's offices. He moved to Canada in 1951.He married Sally Blum, and they had two children, Pearl Levine and Rickie Cohen. Charles died from cancer on 2003/2/8 in Toronto, Canada.

Accession No.: 1998.7.29

Name Access: Kotkowsky, Charles

Places: Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland`, Europe

Archival / Genealogical: Archival Descriptions

Repository: Montreal Holocaust Museum