The LOBL family
Al Bjorn
I wish to add my grand parents to the list of
Jewish families from Lackenbach who died in the holocaust.
My grand father was Benjamin Lobl, (Loebl) D.O.B. June 21, 1889.
My grand mother was Elsa Lobl (nee Zoller) D.O.B. June 2, 1895..
They had 4 children: Helene, Hilda, Martin and Rosa (my mother).
They all were smuggled out of Nazi occupied Austria to England in 1938.
Helene got out on her own and Hilda, Martin and Rosa were
evacuated out of Austria
by the "Kinders Transport".
Martin died in the British military during the war.
Helene, Hilda and Rosa all immigrated to Canada in the early 1950's.
The following is information I obtained from the Austrian
dokumentationarchiv about the fate of my grandparents:
"LOEBL Benno born 21. june 1889 in Lackenbach, shoemaker
LOEBL Elsa, nee Zoller, born june 1895,
last adress: Wien 2, Grosse Schiffgasse 6/4
deportation with transport 1 to Opole on 15. feb. 1941
On February 15th, 1941 and February 26th, 1941 two deportation
transports
with altogether 1962 Jewish men, women and children on board left
Vienna
Aspang Station bound for Opole, a small town south of
Lublin.
Opole had a long established Jewish community; when war broke out
about
4000 Jews lived here, i.e. about 70 % of the population, a
proportion
which rose further after the beginning of the war, as Jews
from other
parts of Poland were forcefully resettled here.
By March 1941 about 8,000 Jews were deported to the ghetto which
had been
set up in Opole. The new arrivals were either lodged with
resident Jewish
families, or in mass accomodation, as for example in a synagogue
or in
newly erected huts.
In the ghetto itself no restriction was placed on the freedom of
movement
of the inmates, and there were no boundary lines, yet it was
forbidden on
the threat of severe punishment to leave Opole without official
permission.
Control of the ghetto was undertaken by the security service of the SS
(SD), the Gendarmerie
and also, as may be concluded from witnesses' testimony, by
German army soldiers.
The inhabitants of the ghetto were largely dependant on
themselves
as far as earning a living was concerned.
From May 1941 about 800 men capable of work were deployed as forced
labour in Deblin.
The liquidation of Opole ghetto began as early as spring 1942.
A transport to Belzec extermination camp left on March 31st,
1942,
and deportations to Sobibor followed in May and October 1942.
Of the 1962 Viennese Jews 28 are known to have survived.
Daughter Helene Brooks 24. aug. 1918 survived in exile.
I hope I copuld help you,
sincerely
Gisela Wibihail"
I hope you can use this information in your website.
Sincerely:
Al Bjorn