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Nostalgia and Memory The Polish Period I The Russian Period I WWI Interwar Poland 1944 Memorial Commemoration- People
Famous Descendants Families from Mlynov Migration of a Shtetl Ancestors By Birthdates- Memories
The Migration of a Shtetl
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The Migration of Survivors
On October 8th or 9th, 1942, the Mlynov ghetto was liquidated. Scholarly efforts indicate that somewhere between a thousand and two thousand people were probably killed in this liquidation. They included the residents of Mlynov but also residents from Mervits and other nearby towns like Demidivka who were rounded up and brought into the ghetto. Among those who were killed were also refugees from further West who fled the original German invasion of Poland in 1939. Some resettled in the area near Mlynov thinking they were now safe.
A handful of individuals and families survived by escaping the ghetto before its end. They survived with great difficulty, hiding in haystacks, in bunkers underground in the forest, in pits dug under animal troughs, and other impossible places. Some, who were lucky, managed to pass themselves off as Ukrainian Christians and survive the War in labor camps. Sometimes those in hiding had the help of a caring Polish peasant or farmer or partisans groups. Many who tried to hide were discovered or betrayed and eventually killed.
The Russians liberated this area of Poland in early 1944. Those who managed to survive until then came out of hiding and gradually found others who survived. They were so dirty, disheveled, and changed that in some cases siblings didn't even recognize each other at first. With no resources and suffering from health conditions, some made their way east to Rovno away from the front. When it felt safe enough, a group of survivors returned to Mlynov to see what had become of their homes and who was still left alive among family and friends.
Realizing that there was little left for them there, and surrounded by loss, the survivors gradually began leaving Mlynov for displaced person camps set up at the end of the War, such as Pocking and Föhrenwald. Travel to these displaced persons camps was difficult and could be dangerous. They had to find ways across national boundaries. In some cases, they traveled hundreds of miles by trains and other means and some were even detained for weeks along the way. Jewish clandestine organizations like Bricha helped smuggle survivors across borders and to the State of Israel which had since come into existence.
In the DP camps, they slowly put their lives back together. Zionist organizations offered classes and support to those who arrived. Eventually, each person and family had to make decisions about where they wanted to migrate and how to secure a visa to immigrate there. Those that could find and reconnect with relatives in the US leveraged those relationships to secure visas into the US. Others wanted the security of and life within a Jewish State. They chose aliyah to the relatively new State of Israel, which had only recently fought its own War. Some survivors found reasons to head to Canada or Brazil or other countries that would accept them.
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Date of Arrival Family Name Destination City Read or download the record November 21, 1945 Litvak Mandatory Palestine Yosef Litvak was son of Motl-Meir Litvak and Dvora-Rivka (née Lamdan) and brother of Penina Litvak. Dvora Lamdan was born in Mlynov but met and married Motl-Meir Litvak in Kiev. Their son, Yosef, was born there in 1917. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, the family left Kiev for the smaller and safer town of Mlynov where Dvora was born. In the 1920s the family tried to find a way to migrate to the US but failed to get a visa.
Growing up in Mlynov, Yosef was active in the Zionist youth movement of Hashomer Hatzair and tried to get a certificate for aliyah in the 1930s but failed due to British restrictions.
When the Germans attacked on June 21, 1941, Yosef was a student in Rovno and was supposed to go to the military draft office the next day. When all the Soviet officials fled that same day, it was too late for him to make it back to Mlynov to rescue his parents because Mlynov was already occupied. Yosef never forgave himself for not trying to go back, though there was no hope of survival. He fled eastward into the interior of Russia and was drafted into a labor army by Stalin.
After a harrowing and brutal few years, in coal mines, and other difficult situations, Yosef managed to escape Russia with the Polish army and then deserted the Polish army. With the help of Zionists, they made their way through Romania posing as Greeks. From Greece, they were on one of the first ships that the Haganah organized to get into Palestine. Read more about Yosef Litvak and his family and read some of the essays Yosef contributed to the Memorial Book.
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Date of Arrival Family Name Destination City Read or download the record April 1, 1947 Kosak Philadelphia Kozak family, lines 2-8 (1 page) Icek Kozak (variation Itcek Kosak) managed to get each member of his family out of the Mlynov ghetto one by one, covered by hay in a wagon he drove at the direction of the German occupiers. The entire Kozak family managed to survive the war hidden in an earthen hut by a rare but generous Ukrainian family. After the War, the family made their way to the displaced person camp of Föhrenwald.
They eventually connected with Icek’s brother, Jack Kossack, who was in Philadelphia since 1919, after he returned from Canada. Records from Föhrenwald are stamped with dates April 24, 1946 and May 6, 1946. and their departure date from Föhrenwald on Feb. 26, 1947.
A ship's manifest indicates they departed Plymouth, England on March 22, 1947 on the SS Marine Marlin and arrived in NY on April 1st. The ship name "Ernie Pyle" is scratched out and instead "Marine Marlin" is written. A news item published in the Jewish Telegraph Agency on April 2, 1947 explains why: "The S.S. Marine Marlin carrying 887 passengers, 68 of whom are survivors of Nazism coming to the United States as quota immigrants, arrived here this morning. Many of the immigrants will join relatives in time to spend the Passover holiday with them. The passengers originally sailed from Bremerhaven, Germany, aboard the S.S. Ernie Pyle which was forced to turn back to Plymouth, England, because of engine trouble. The S.S. Marine Marlin picked them up there." “Isak Kosak” is listed as 47, his wife, “Chawa” (Eva Bichman) age 43, and children Moses (Morris) 22, Kreina (later Karen Lowenthal) 16, and Ruwin (Rubin) 24. Ruwin’s wife Sydzia (Sylvia) was 18, and their son "Mojsze" 3 months.
Icek's daughter, Genia Kosak (later Jean Litz), was also traveling on the same ship under her married name of Genja Vipravnik. She married while in the displaced persons camp but she divorced her husband shortly after arriving in the States. The manifest shows they were headed to Icek’s brother, Jack Kossack, at 2560 N Corlies Str. Philadelphia, PA. To learn more, read Icek Kozak's essay in the Memorial Book, "What My Family Endured."
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Date of Arrival Family Name Destination City Read or download the record September 26, 1947 Holtzeker Record of internment in Cypress Hanoch Holtzeker #95 Hanoch Holtzeker, son of Yaakov and Rosa Holtzeker, was born on Dec. 18, 1930 in Mlynov. Two of his sisters, Tzipporah Holtzeker and Baila Holtzeker, made aliya in 1931 and 1941 respectively. Hanoch was 9 years old when WW2 started. He was living with his family when they were incarcerated in the Mlynov ghetto in May 1942.
His parents and older brother perished. With other brothers, he escaped to the forest. In a manhunt, his brothers were killed. Hanoch was wounded in the head and the Germans left him for dead. Hanoch managed to crawl to a hiding place where he found a family he knew. Together they fled to Russia and eventually returned to Poland where he located an orphanage and connected with the Zionist youth group, Hashomer Hatzair. With them, he left Poland and eventually joined an illegal ship headed to Palestine called HaMaapil HaAlmoni. Serendipitously, Hanoch was on the same ship with Teitelman family survivors (according to the account of Asher Teitelman).
According to online accounts, the ship HaMaapil HaAlmoni was acquired by the Mossad LeAliyah Bet (Institution for Immigration B) a branch of the paramilitary organization Haganah. Beginning in 1938, the organization was involved in clandestine efforts to bring immigrants to Mandatory Palestine in response to the British severely curtailing legal immigration.
The vessel left from the small port of Sète on February 3rd, carrying 794 illegal immigrants. The voyage went smoothly until February 14th when the vessel was discovered by a British scout plane. The following day, two British destroyers appeared and followed for another day before attacking and boarding after a short but fierce encounter. During the engagement the British made use of tear gas and water hoses, and a number of illegal immigrants ("Ma’apilim") were injured. According to Holtzeker descendants, when they were near shore Hanoch jumped in and tried to swim but he was captured by the British and interred in Cypress for 8 months, as were the Teitelmans. The vessel was towed to Haifa and the illegal immigrants were deported to Cyprus. A few managed to evade deportation by hiding in a secret compartment that had been prepared exactly for that purpose. A record from Cypress shows Hanoch in Cypress Camp 65 and identifies the name of his ship.
Finally, Hanoch was able to join his sisters in Kibbutz Negba in 1947. A record shows him in the youth groups in Negba in 1947. Just days after Israel declared Independence in May 1947, Hanoch was killed by a shell in the battle for Negba against the Egyptian army. See the tribute to Hanoch included in his sister Baila's short reflection for the Memorial book. You can also check out an overview of the Goldseker family migration or read more about the Goldseker family from Mlynov.
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Date of Arrival Family Name Destination City Read or download the record April 20, 1948 Teitelman Mandatory Palestine records in Zionist Archive Surviving the Shoah were several member of the Teitelman family: Nahum , his wife Rachel (née Gruber) ), their children, strong>Asher, Shifra, and Yosef . Rachel's sister, Sonia (née Gruber) and her husband Mendel Teitelman, and (Mendel's sister) Mamtsi (married name Genut) and two children of their sister Mirel (married name Schwartz). Sarah, daughter of Rachel's sister, Chaika, also survived.
Many of the Teitelman survivors appear in the photo of the commemoration near Mlynov in the fall of 1944. The detailed survival story of the family is told in a book length narrative as told by Asher Teitelman, which can be downloaded.
After leaving Mlynov, the family migrated to Bad Gastein and then eventually to Paris where they arrived in January 1947. Yosef left first on sliyah with a youth group called "Aliyat Hanoar." A Zionist archive in Hebrew indicates his date of migraiton was Dec.30, 1947 and was on the ship, HaMaapil HaAlmoni, the same ship as Hanoch Holseker,
The rest of the family caught passage on the illegal ship of immigrants called the "Ben Hecht" out of Marseille, on March 1, 1947.
On March 8, the ship was in sight of Carmel, when they were spotted by British aircraft. Two boats arrived and escorted them to the port of Haifa. The next day they were taken off the boat and brought to the Cyprus detention camps. There they bumped into Asher's brother, Yosef.
Asher and family stayed in Camp 66, the same camp as Hanoch Holtzeker. They remained there until April 15, 1948, just a month before Ben Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. On April 20th, they arrived at the harbor of Haifa. You can read more about the Teitelman family from Mlynov and Mervits.
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Date of Arrival Family Name Destination City Read or download the record 1947 Sherman Mandatory Palestine record not located Ezra and Yechiel Sherman were sons of Moshe Sherman and Etel (née Golisuk). Etel died in 1938 following a fall and their father remarried and moved to Dubno. The boys and their siblings lived for a time in Mlynov with their maternal grandmother, Hannah, who was part of the Schuchman family .
When the Germans attacked the Russian-held part of Poland, Yechiel fled East on bicycles with five other young men from Mlynov. He survived the War in the interior of Russia. Ezra, a boy of 10 or 11 years, was still in Mlynov when ghetto residents were lined the day of the liquidation. Ezra asked a guard for permission to relieve himself. When granted, he went around behind a building and then climbed up in the top of a small shed where he eventually feel asleep. When he woke up everyone was gone and he was able to leave the ghetto. After wandering alone, he was eventually helped by a series of caring Polish farmers.
After their liberation, Ezra and Yechiel eventually reconnected. After passing through Poland and a displaced persons camp in West Germany, the two brothers eventually reached Mandatory Palestine. Learn more about Ezra and Yechiel's lives and their survival stories.
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Date of Arrival Family Name Destination City Read or download the record Dec 24, 1948 Schechman Baltimore via Waterbury, Conn. Schechman family, lines 17-19 (1 page) Shlomo (Slomeh) Schechman was one of four children born in Mlynov to Noach Moshe Schuchman and his wife Faige (“Beshe Wolk”). Shlomo's father, Noach Moshe, was the brother of Joseph Schuchman who left for Baltimore in 1913. A short tribute to Noach Moshe was included in the Mlynov Memorial book by Boruch Meren. Of the four children in the family, Shlomo was the only one to survive. He was actively involved with the partisans and would hide in the woods under leaves during the day and raid farms at night. He was shot several times, including in the back and lost a toe and a finger.
After the War, Shlomo met and married Liza Zabirowciwz from Lutsk, who managed to escape from a ghetto as well. Their son Morris was born in 1945 on the way to the DP camp Föhrenwald.
On December 13, 1948, “Sloma Szechman,” age 37, his wife “Liza,” age 23, and son “Misma” (Morris) age 3, left Hamburg on the SS Marine Marlin and arrived in NY on Dec 24. They had 2 trunks and 5 suitcases with them. They were headed to a farm of Liza’s relatives at 25 Stephana Lane in Waterbury, Connecticut. After a year, they migrated to Baltimore with the support of Shlomo’s uncle Joseph Schuchman. You can check out an overview of the Schuchman family migration or read more about the Schuchman family from Mlynov.
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Date of Arrival Family Name Destination City Read or download the record March 9, 1949 Tesler Baltimore Liba Tesler, line 500 (1 page) Liba Tesler (later Liba Einstendig) was urged by her father to leave the Mlynov Ghetto in early October 1942 once news reached them that the nearby ghetto of Dubno had been liquidated. Liba’s harrowing story of survival hiding and posing as a Polish woman is told by David Sokolsky in his book, Monument: One Woman's Courageous Escape From The Holocaust.
After the War ended, Liba eventually made her way to the Pocking displaced person camp. After two years in the camp, Liba read a notice in the Yiddish Forward placed by Boruch Meren, who lived in Baltimore, inquiring whether anyone from Mlynov was still alive. She wrote him a letter and asked to be connected to her cousins, the Marders in Baltimore. Boruch tracked them down and also contacted Mlynov born Joe (Gershon)Goldberg and his wife Sylvia Goldberg in Brooklyn, also cousins of Liba.
Liba took a train to Hamburg and, after waiting another few weeks, finally got her passport at Bremen-Grohn and then boarded the SS Marine Flasher at Hamburg on Feb. 28, 1949 bound for New York. She is listed as 36, a dressmaker and her destination is her cousin ( and Marder descendant) Paulina Bargteil at 2600 Oakley Ave in Baltimore. You can check out an overview of the Marder family migration or read more about the Liba's amazing survivor story.
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Date of Departure Family Name Destination City Read or download the record June 10, 1949 Steinberg | Wurtzel Springfield Getzel Steinberg and family, lines 188-90 (1 page) July 31, 1949 Steinberg | Grenspun Cleveland Mendel Steinberg and family, lines 302-305 (1 page) August 1949 Steinberg | Upstein Israel record not located Several members of the Steinberg family from Mervits survived the Shoah. Their story is told in a book called Struggle To Survive. They all made their way back to Mlynov after their liberation. After leaving Mlynov Getzel's family and his sister Bunia and her husband, headed to the Pocking displaced persons camp.
Survivors Getzel Steinberg , his wife Pessia (née Wurtzel) and son Zelig headed to Springfield, Massachusetts, where Pessia had a cousin, Rikel Alman. They reconnected with them via a letter sent initially to Aleph Katz. They received their passport in Amberg, Germany and departed for the US on June 10, 1949. The passenger list indicates Gecel's birthdate is listed as Aug. 5, 1902 in Poland and his occupation is "clerk." Pessey's birthdate is listed as May 1, 1905, and "Selig's" is Aug 12, 1939, though he may have been born in 1947.
Getzel's brother, Mendel Steinberg, also survived with his wife Sheindel (née Grenspun) and son Anshel. They went to the Feldafing displaced person camp Feldafing, where their daughter Sora (Susie) was born. The family left Bremerhaven on July 31, 1949 on the US Army Transport (USAT) General Haan. Mendel is listed as 39, “Scheindla” as 37, “Ancel” 13, and “Sora” 7 months old. They are headed to Sheindel’s relatives at 12014 Superior Ave in Cleveland, Ohio.
Getzel's sister Bunia and her husband Yitzhak Upstein chose to make aliyah. Two sons, Hanina and Chayim, were born while they were in Pocking. Traveling with them was the child survivor Aviva Feldman who was rescued by Bunia and was reunited with an aunt in Israel. You can also check out an overview of the Steinberg family migration or read more about the Steinberg family from Mervits.
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Date of Departure Family Name Destination City Read or download the record Jan 25, 1949 Halperin | Halpern Canada Saul Halperin and family, lines 161-163 (1 page) Saul ("Shaul") Halperin was born in 1918, one of four children of Yosel Halperin and Tzipa/Cipa (née Rivetz / "Rywiec"). He was the only member of his primary family to survive. The passenger list shows that Saul, his wife, and daughter were in the Pocking-Waldstadt displaced persons camp. They received their passport in the Amberg resettlement camp and departed from Munich on Jan 25, 1949. According to the resettlement record, Saul Josyf was born in Poland on Dec. 25, 1918 and was a teacher. His wife Lila (née Fijalkow) was born on May 15, 1924.Their daughter Chasia (Arlene) was born in Germany on Feb. 20, 1948. You can check out an overview of the Halperin/Hirsch family migration or read more about the Halperin/Hirsch family from Mlynov.
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Date of Arrival Family Name Destination City Read or download the record November 01, 1949 Malar | Goldberg Philadelphia David Malar and wife, line 110 David Tewel Malar was one of three children of Yussel Malar and Esther (née Gelberg / Goldberg). His mother, Esther, was born in Mlynov. David was the only one of his family to survive.
A passenger list of displaced persons shows David Malar and his wife Chaya (née Gadin) departing for Philadelphia on Nov. 1, 1949. The record indicates their passport was issued in Delmenhorst, Germany a resettlement Camp, and their departure place was Grohn, which probably refers to Camp Grohn a military base of the U.S. Army on the outskirts of Bremen, Germany, after the end of World War II from 1945 to 1954. Camp Grohn became the largest forced displacement camp, housing as many as 5,000 people prior to their emigrating to the United States or elsewhere. Their departure date was Nov. 1, 1949.
The record describes David as age 39, a bookkeeper, born in "Lith" [Lithuanian]. His birthdate is listed as Aug 16, 1910. The birthdate of his wife Chaja is Aug 4, 1912. She is also listed as a bookkeeper.
Their destination was USNA [US North America] John J. Allen, 4739 Larchwood Ave, Philadelphia, PA.
You can check out an overview of this Goldberg/Gelberg family migration or read more about this Goldberg / Gelberg family from Mlynov.
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Compiled by Howard I. Schwartz
Updated: November 2024
Copyright © 2021 Howard I. Schwartz, PhD
Webpage Design by Howard I. Schwartz
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