Cameron GriffinMrs. Vanderpool/ Ms. Engel

4th Hour

Buhl, Germany

• Born in Buhl, Germany in 1922.

• His mother passed away in 1928.

• His dad got remarried in 1930.

• His role model was his uncle (a very prominent lawyer at the time).

• He didn’t have any goals or ambitions that he could recall other than leaving Germany.

• He had only one non-Jewish friend.

• He wasn’t informed of his mother’s death until after the funeral had taken place.

• He was one of only three Jews that attended his high school.

• His father and stepmother had another child in 1931.

• It was a group of boys that followed the Nazi philosophy.

• They were trained in paramilitary and wore uniforms.

• Karl was intimidated by them because they carried daggers so he tried to avoid them.

• Eventually ALL of the boys in his class joined.

• He was able to get out of Germany before the war in 1937.

• He moved to America with his uncle in Kansas City.

• At about the same time that Karl arrived in America, America entered the war.

• Although he wasn’t even a US citizen yet, he was drafted and sent to Germany.

• He fought against the Nazis close to his home town.

• He moved back home and married Gloria Lyon.

• They eventually moved to San Francisco and still reside there today.

• They had two children and nine grandchildren.

Czechoslovakia

• She lived on a farm and enjoyed working on it.

• She had a large family and liked spending time with them.

• Her family was the first in the city to have electricity

• She went to school for nine years before The Holocaust. Starting at the age of five.

• She wanted to become a schoolteacher when she grew up.

• Her family had been excused from wearing the yellow star because her father was a WWI hero.

• While living in the ghetto there was a shortage of water.

• The trains arrived at the ghettos at night. • She arrived in Auschwitz after 4 days in a

cattle car.

• An estimated 1 million to as many as 2 million Jews were killed here.

• Established in 1940 by Himmler.• Towards the end of the war there was an

estimated 20,000 deaths every day.

• It was the largest concentration camp in Europe.• Other groups, such as, Polish political prisoners,

Soviets POWs, Gypsy families, homosexuals, people with disabilities, and other religious groups were killed here.

• More people died in Auschwitz than the British and American losses of WWII combined.

• Liberated on January 27, 1945

• Upon arrival men and women were divided. She remained with her mother, but no other family members.

• They didn’t even realize they were prisoners initially.

• They were eventually given a tattoo with an identification number.

• She was in Auschwitz for 7.5 months.

• Gloria was sent to 7 different camps (Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bergen-Belsen, Beendorf, Ravensbrück and others)

• While in other camps she made no new friends.

• After the war she moved to San Francisco, California.

• Once she arrived in America she was reunited with her mother, father, her brother Sandor, and her sister Annuska.

• The only one missing was her brother Viktor. He was beaten and bled to death 3 days before liberation.

Karl Lyon Elie Wiesel

•Moved to America after liberation.•Didn’t lose

faith

Gloria Lyon Elie Wiesel

Similarities

•Didn’t have to wear yellow star.•Was sent to 7 different camps.•Only one member of her family died in a concentration camp.

•They lived in ghettos.•They went to Auschwitz.•They were both under 18 years old.•They stayed with at least one parent.•Their parents owned stores•They both thought Auschwitz would be better than the cattle cars were.

• Lost most of his family in the concentration camp.• Lied about his age.

Reflection

• Although I already knew that the Holocaust was terrible, I had no idea just how hard it was to actually survive it. After researching a few survivors and listening to other survival stories from classmates I have gained a greater respect for anyone who had to live during the era.

Sources

• http://www.tellingstories.org/holocaust/klyon/index.html

• http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_ph.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005468&MediaId=2016

• http://www.tellingstories.org/holocaust/glyon/index.html

• http://www.shoaheducation.com/camps/statistics.html

Sources

• http://isurvived.org/AUSCHWITZ_TheCamp.html

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/12_december/03/auschwitz_facts.shtml