If you are looking for a soldier/survivor/ family member relating to the evacuation transports from Bergen Belsen, please post here. You should also consider contacting the Bergen Belsen Memorial, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Data Base and Resource Center, and/or the Yad Vashem Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names.
We will review and post your comment/request asap.
Thank you
Matthew Rozell
Webmaster
Hi Matt,
A long time ago one of the survivors gave me a passport of her father with the signature of the American soldier who were on the first tank and went to the survivors at Farsleben when they liberated the train.
He is a Jewish and he wrote there also his name in Hebrew Avraham Cohen .
A lot of survivors have asked me if we found him. They remember him and his name and even that he had a necklace with a Star of David on his the neck. He shouted to them in Yiddish with tears in his eyes “I am a Jew too”.
Maybe you can publish at your site about his with his signature I attaching here .
His signature attached here is a historical document.
Thanks,
Varda
Peace,
I’m looking for my mother’s brother who came to Auschwitz in May 1944 his name is Kalman Irmias .
My grandmother’s family name Leibovitz The Nazis took them from Hungary to Auschwitz and never known what happened to them .
If someone knows them or it has information I would love to know
Tali, You can try the contact pages at the USHMM registry or at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Yad Vashem as well. Go to their websites and look for links. The more info you have the better- what town, any full names, dates… but it is likely they were deported between the beginning of May and the end of August, 1944. I’m sorry to say that most of the Hungarian Jews were murdered upon arrival at Auschwitz. I will be writing about this in my new book. Peace to you as well.
My name is Haim Guttman my father name is :Guttmann Dezsoe (david) was born at 09.10.1921 in Tornalya and arrived to Bergen Belsen at 14.12.44 was on that train.Unfortunatly he died three years ago.
I am trying to locate sombody who knew or meat him.
My e mail addres is : haim.guttman@doralon.co.il
Thanks.
Submitted on 2011/09/28 at 5:44 pm
my name is Idel Rosenfeld and my famili was borned in Reghin ,Romania. I wanted know if same relatives of my father survived of the war. The name of my father was Miklos Rosenfeld.
Submitted on 2011/05/05 at 5:07 pm
Dear Matthew Rozell,
I am still a little shocked and turbulent. Today my sister put the ABC bulletin of your school project, on Facebook with the comment “my father’s story”. On holocaust Memory Day in Israel she decided to watch sum holocaust clips on You Tube. She remembered the story our Father told us of a train, and the American liberation. She typed Bergen-Belsem and train and that how it all began. When I watched the clip I was touched but a little skeptical. I wandered if it could really be my father’s train. I then called my mother in Israel (I live in Sweden) yes she said it must be it. I then looked at your web site and to my astonishment my father`s name and his mother father and two sisters were on: Aptroot Alida, Aptroot Isidoor, Aptroot Joseph, Aptroot Ruth, Aptroot-Levy Lucie. My father was seven years old when he was liberated with his family. I cannot begin to tell you what this means to me and my family. Sadly my Father died a few years back; he was a very special man. He touched many people with his warm and explosive personality (that is another story). He`s big sister Ruth still lives in Germany. He`s little sister Alida also died. I remember all of them; Saba Dory (Isidoor) Savta Lucie, Alida and Joppi my father. There are no words to express the gratitude I have for your work. I thank you with all my hart and definitely going to keep in touch.
My name is Keren Aptroot the doter of Joseph Aptroot.
Submitted on 2010/11/16 at 3:27 am
I just found out my uncle I never knew was liberated at Hillersleben. His name was Jozef Barg or Berg. He was the sole survivor of the family in the Warsaw ghetto, and then went to Bergen-Belsen, possibly via the Hotel Polski. He lost his wife Franciszka and 12-year-old daughter Sabina in the ghetto. He would have been about 43 when liberated. Then he emigrated to Israel/Palestine, and was living in Tel Aviv in 1955.
On the off chance anyone has a recollection, please email me:
rbaranlaw@gmail.com.
Submitted on 2010/04/26 at 10:02 am
Hi all,
Does anyone have any recollection of a women by the name of Chaya Goldberger and her children Rosa, Zundel, Yankel and Blima. My great grandmother Chaya Goldberger died and was buried in Hillersleben. If anyone has any memories or anything to share about them please email me – yoelgross@gmail.om
Submitted on 2010/04/12 at 10:46 am
I just found out about this reunion by chance. My mother who died 12 years ago had told us the story since we were kids. She was 17 years old and was liberated together with her sister, two brothers and mother by the soldiers who saw their train. My mother wrote her memoirs and there she describes the kindness of the soldiers who took care of them, found places to live and helped them to get back to life. She even mentions the chocolates and chewing gum she received from them.
I would appreciate any information about the reunion or other relevant information.
Our families live in Israel nowadays.
Thanks,
Shoshana
Submitted on 2010/04/12 at 10:25 am
hallo
my name is harel kertesz/ i am from israel’ sde eliezer
i think thet my father was on thet train becus i know thet story from his side. unforchentely he is not alive. i will be hapy to know more abut thet day.]
thenks
harel harelk123@gmail.com
Submitted on 2010/02/25 at 12:36 pm
There is no question that we (thirteen memebers’ family from Cracow, Poland) were on one of the trains expedited from Bergen Belsen a few days before liberation, and our train arrived near Magdenburg and stopped there. But we know there were other trains with Dutch an Hungarian Jews.
Josef E. Horowitz
Submitted on 2010/02/01 at 4:19 pm
To Julio Botton,
Indeed my maiden name was LOla Hassid-Frances. I am also happy to hear news from you. Also that somebody remembers the fire. Could you give me more details. Sometimew I think i dreamed it.
Lola
Submitted on 2010/01/23 at 9:07 am
hello
I came across your website while trying to find people who were liberated from a train by American soldiers on Apr 30, 1945 in Staltach (today’s name: Iffeldorf. next to Starnberg see in Bavaria).
Can anyone help me with the mission of finding any survivors or soldiers who were there?
If anyone from the American soldiers, has taken any pictures from the liberation, it will help me a lot.
thanks
hana (israel)
hana goldhirsh
hanaor@gmail.com
Submitted on 2011/01/26 at 7:05 am | In reply to hana goldhirsh.
Shalom Hanna,
I have found the Army-unit and Names of Soldiers having been involved in the liberation of that train in Staltach. But no pictures so far.
I also found several survivors still alive.
Mail me, if you are interested.
Hans Hoche
hoche@gut-steinbach.de
Submitted on 2010/01/19 at 7:13 pm
I am 53 years old and my mother, who was a holocaust survivor died about 32 years ago. Just in the past 48 hours I found out some information about her parents and sisters.
They were all sent to Riga but her sisters were eventually transported to Stutthof Concentration camp. Now I also have their date of birth. Please please tell me how do I begin to look for information about them?? Their names were Herta and Hannelore Stein. They both died in 1944. Could someone please help me get started on this quest. Thank you kindly
Susan Katzenstein- Feliu
susal426@yahoo.com
I hope someone has responded with assistance before me. Start with finding as many documents on your mother as you can. Some will give you family and transport information: death, marriage certificates; petition and application for citizenship/naturalization; transport records from Europe; yizkor books, etc.
I am only now learning the ropes of genealogy research, so would suggest finding others who can provide more guidance from a Jewish genealogy society in your area or a national group to help you research European and holocaust records. There are discussion blogs where others are often willing to give time, search local records, as volunteers. Debbie
Submitted on 2009/12/28 at 5:36 pm
December 28, 2009
Hello
During the World War in 1945 in Belgium, my father saw the soldier Julius M. HELDER (36,459,331) during the month of December 1945. He left the 8-January-1945, the village of Stavelot-Francorchamps and killed 27-March-1945 in Germany at the age of 20 years, buried in Margraten, Limburg, Netherlands. By internet, I was able to verify that Julius Helder property belonged to the 743th Tank Battalion and therefore participate in the great feat of arms (landing on the front line, pierced to Belgium, Battle of the Bulge in Stavelot – Malmedy). I would like to know more exactly the platoon of this company where it belonged and what was its functions during the transition near Stavelot and also its exact route during the war. You can answer me directly to this email “jbfontaine@vincotte.be”.
Thank you for your cooperation
(Google translation)
Submitted on 2009/11/20 at 10:13 pm
My grandfather was in the 823 Tank Destroyer Battalion also. His name was Ottis Kenneth Blair, mostly known as “Buster.” He died around 1961. If you have pictures of the soldiers that you possibly could e-mail, even though it may be a long shot that he might be in them, I’d be so grateful. My e-mail is crystallynn306@hotmail.com
i’m looking abaut Roza Hirsch (Schnurmacher) Born at 1.1.1917 at Kiskunfelegyhaza in Hungry was since 13.11.1944 till 14.4.1945 in german camp Bergen-Belsen. she was found by the 9th US. Army in she train near the station Farsleben 16 klm. from Magdenburg.
There is a Schnuermacher Alexander 12.06.1888 07.12.44 on the manifest list. You may wish to contact Bernd Horstmann who prepared this list from the files at Gedenkstätte Bergen-Belsen.
my grandmother is tibor feiles born at 19 02 1927 in budapest and i am looking some information abuot him ran.regev@romacer.org
Shalom, I’m looking for:
Levy Maurice 05.04.1935 Athen 14.04.44
Levy Humbert 26.11.1937 Athen 14.04.44
Salmona Lea 27.09.1933 Saloniki 14.04.44
All liberated at Farsleben, Germany, April 13th 1945.
Thanks a lot
Miriam Assor
Miriam: If you will please contact me, I can help you.
Frank W. Towers
towersfw@windstream.net
Last year I began a research about my grandmother’s family. They were from Vilna Lithuania. I am looking for two daghters of a cousin. Her name was Sara Aron, Her two daughters Hana and Necha survive the Holocaust. When the war ended they remained in Bergen Belsen untile they went to live to Palestin in 1947. I don’t know their surname, but I had a picture that was taken in Bergen Belsen before they went to live to Palestin. They were born in 1931 and 1934. I was been translating letters that another cousin who survive sent to my grandmother in 1946.Yad Vashem and Maguen David Adom informed me that she died, I contacted his only son, but he doesn’t know nothing about his mother’s life before she went to live to Israel.
If someone can help me to find the list of the orphans who went to live to Palestine in 1947 I will apprecate very much this information. The two girls are the only family that knew my family in Vilna that could be alive.
My e-mail gabyjelen@gmail.com, My name is Gabriela Jelen and I live in Buenos Aires – Argentina.
Matt: Perhaps this site will also be helpful to those looking for lost family. “Email Hillel Kuttler at – seekingkin@jta.org – if you would like the help of “Seeking Kin” in searching for long-lost relatives and friends. Please include the principal facts and your contact information in a brief (one-paragraph) email.” (JTA once known as “Jewish Telegraphic Agency”) Debbie Silverstein
My father, Eddie Connelly, a combat veteran in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, is now gone. He didn’t talk about his war experiences but he did mention that he assisted in the rehabilitation of Bergen Belsen. All documents of his service were lost in a flood but I would like to know if anyone remember him. His FULL name was Eddie Connelly from Rich Hill Missouri and was probably a first sergeant at the time. Thank you. I look forward to your reply.
APPEAL
If you know anything about Károly Patrovits, who saved the lives of many Jewish forced laborers, an acto for which he paid with his own life, please let us know.
We read an article by László Feleki in the May 25, 1975 issue of the newspaper “Népsport”. It was entitled PATRÓ (The Story of a Righteous Man):
… it happened in late fall of 1944 in front of the Great Market Hall on Dimitrov Square [in Budapest]. Hungarian reserve first lieutenant Károly Patrovits was commander of a Jewish forced labor company. He received orders to march his company to Germany. He had no doubt about what this order entailed and the fate that awaited the 220 men under his command. He decided not to follow orders, regardless of what may happen. After marching for several days, he stopped his company in front of the market hall and said more or less as follows:
‘Men! I have received orders to march to Germany. Since the journey is long, you may all go home now… I repeat: YOU MAY ALL GO HOME NOW to prepare for the journey. After all, we’re not going JUST ANYWHERE. Understood? We start six o’clock tomorrow morning. I’m warning everyone, don’t be late, because WE’RE NOT WAITING FOR ANYONE!
He’d already worked on his staff. It wasn’t difficult, because he’d already imbued them with his own views during the previous months. They were happy to be out of the war and were hoping that they’d only have to lie low for another couple of difficult weeks or months…. Almost all the men understood the meaning of the commander’s surprising announcement, which was given a tragic-comic coloring by next morning’s episode. The next morning, Patrovits and some of his staff appeared in front of the market hall and he was surprised to see that 7 (seven!) forced laborers had followed his orders and had appeared precisely on time. They were fully equipped; after all you can’t head for the Third Reich just any old way. Seven out of 220. Patrovits took a deep breath, then all he said was, “Get lost, boys.”
The penny dropped. The men ran to their beloved commander, hugged him, then scattered. What happened to them? We don’t know what happened to most of the men in the Patrovits company. Were they able to take advantage of the freedom that fell in their laps? How many were able to survive the grueling months until the liberation? And how many can still remember the man who paid for his heroism with his life?”
Károly Patrovits was the father of the well known actor György Pálos.
György Pálos’s original name was György Patrovits.
Please contact us at the following address:
Fruzsina Magyar: magyarfruzsina5@gmail.com
Tamás Patrovits: t.patrovits@gmail.com
Matt, Are you related to my old friend and classmate Tony Rozell from Dunwoodie Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y. ? If so please give him my regards. Thanks. Dick Murphy Beacon, N.Y.12508 and member of the Wappingers Congress of Teachers (retired)
Yes, Dick, he was my dad. He passed away in 2000.
https://teachinghistorymatters.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/if-youre-strong-and-fair-it-doesnt-make-any-difference-what-you-teach/
I am doing family research. I am searching for any information about Irving Goldberger, also known as Isadore. Adolf Goldberger. CHAVA SARAH GOLDBERGER and Shlomo Eliyahu Goldberger. All from Czechoslovakia. Most of them from Nagyrakoc (before it became a Hungarian city).
I don’t know if this is the same one, but Irving (R’ Yiyzchak Goldberger) was born in 1924 in KisVarda, Hungary.
He had three sisters and he survived five concentration camps. He ended up in Los Angeles where he met his wife Leah, of blessed memory.
For further questions, contact the Chabad house in Northridge California on Devonshire St.
He does have surviving children here.
Dear varda: I am so glad to find confirmation that Avraham cohen was there. Our family was very close to him after liveration. He used to visit us occasionally from Albany where I think he lived. I know that he is no longer alive, but wonder which battalion he belonged to, since Frank does not know of him. sometimesI think his name was spelled with a K, buthis signature proves otherwise. Perhaps Matt can find our more about him since he lived nearby.
My name is Mary Adams, daughter of Frederick C. Adams of the 95th Medical Gas Treatment Battalion. He spoke of Hillersleben, and two girls, Gina and Blanca, teens from Poland,whom he helped get out of Hillersleben and on some transport south. I was wondering if: someone knew my father; and if someone knows how to reach these two women. We believe they went to Israel. Thank you.
My mother Yetty Beigel and her sister Gisella married with Laibesh Katz where taken from Bergen Belsen by train when the British troops where near by. According my mother, the train was liberated by the Americans soldiers the day or after the death of Roosvelt.
My question is if there where many trains departing from Bergen Belsen and liberated the same day? If there was only one train, how comes that the name of my mother and sister are not in the list? They both passed away many years ago.
Your mother and Aunt were on this train. Between April 6 and 9, 1945, 6700 men, women, and children from the exchange camp passed through the camp gates and marched several kilometers to the railhead that many had arrived at months or years earlier. Three train transports of cattle cars and shabby passenger cars were prepared and loaded. Some people were executed for attempting to steal sugar beets at the railhead .
The transports would be headed for the Theresienstadt concentration camp, which at the time was far enough from advancing Allied lines and indeed would prove to be the last camp liberated on the last day of the war. Only one train made it there. The other two were liberated, one by the Americans at Farsleben near Magdeburg, and the other by the Russians near Tröbitz.
The first train left Bergen-Belsen on 6 April 1945 and travelled for six days before coming to a stop near the village of Farsleben. It was this transport that the soldiers I interviewed came upon on Friday, April 13, 1945, the day after the President’s death. We have had other survivors contact us who may not have been on the manifest list- the SS destroyed much of the records so they are being reconstructed. I suggest you contact the Custodian of the Book of Names at the Bergen Belsen Memorial, Bernd Horstmann
We are looking to see if anyone knew / served with our great uncle, Gene De Rocchis; he was part of the 823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion. He was killed in action in September 1944 in the Netherlands and we’d love to find someone who may have known him during his service.
Thank you,
Carla and Liana
My Uncle Richard Davis was a member of the 743rd Battallion. He died April 17th a At Magdeburg and is buried at Margraten, Netherlands. If anyone recognizes his name or has any information his family would appreciate. We don’t know if he would have been involved in the liberation at Farsleben.
I am searching for information regarding the late Major Clarence L Benjamin of the 743rd tank battalion. Major Benjamin took some of the photos at the Megdeburg train. Where did he live after the war, what did he do for a living, does he have surviving family? I am not a relative, but a friend of George Gross’ son Tim.
Thank you,
Steve
Steve I am looking too. He was from Oakland. The trail ends. If you find out let me know. Matt
I want to thank you for the information you have provided about the train at Farsleben. Someone I loved very much was rescued there–he was just shy of twelve years old. He is now deceased. He never liked to talk about his experiences, but this site helped me learn about them. Thank you for this. Very much.
I have articles owned by 1st Sgt. Daniel F Clark med dept 119 and am looking for family to send them to. I have pictures, a letter and an award ribbon. My email is albemarlepippin@gmail.com Thank you for any help in finding his family. Connie
Hey
I’m looking for my mother’s brother who came to Auschwitz in May 1944 his name is Kalman Irmias .
My grandmother’s family name Leibovitz The Nazis took them from Hungary to Auschwitz and never known what happened to them .
If someone knows them or it has information I would love to know
I replied to you yesterday: Tali, You can try the contact pages at the USHMM registry or at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Yad Vashem as well. Go to their websites and look for links. The more info you have the better- what town, any full names, dates… but it is likely they were deported between the beginning of May and the end of August, 1944. I’m sorry to say that most of the Hungarian Jews were murdered upon arrival at Auschwitz. I will be writing about this in my new book. Peace to you as well.
Looking for the family name of Secher out of Berlin…
Eternally grateful
Janet Secher-Torres
We recognize my mother,uncle and Grandfather on the group picture
my mother was a 9 years at her liberation we grew up with my mother relating stories of how a US tank liberated them and other memories of the train liberation on the 13th of April, 1945
i dont see their war time family name “Brenning” on the list
is that possible? How can we confirm its them on the picture?
It is a long shot to confirm identities in the picture, but if she was in Bergen Belsen and was liberated on a train, April 13th, she was definitely on this transport.We have had other survivors contact us who may not have been on the manifest list- the SS destroyed much of the records so they are being reconstructed. I suggest you contact the Custodian of the Book of Names at the Bergen Belsen Memorial, Bernd Horstmann
Hi,
We are looking on information on William O. Potts that was a Tech/5 in the 30th infantry div, medical dept. 120 infantry reg. He was killed in action on Oct. 7, 1944. Anyone knowing the details of his service or the circumstances of his death would be greatly appreciated.
Larry Mullins
Hi Maybe research for an Al Cohen on Ancestry.com and find him: was he US Army? Might be able to locate his unit if you knew the approximate date and place also. In the Us many libraries offer this research for free. Also, finding his family tree and contacting living relatives might provide additional information.
Any information about Jan Tomczak 1922- or Stefan 1902- (+/- 3 years) ,his father who were in Leitmeritz/Litomerice from 1944-45 and survived liberation appreciated. They were Polish and had previously been in Flossenburg Camp. Attempting to research the family prior to the war and after. Any helps appreciated. They were from the Central Poland / Poznan region. Jan was born in Kordyszewo, Stefan in Warszawa.
Any information on a Bertha Pauley or her son Henrich Pauley appreciated.
His birth year about 1920. Thank you.
You should also consider contacting the Bergen Belsen Memorial, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Data Base and Resource Center, and/or the Yad Vashem Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names. See links added at top.
Hi Matt – Lisette Lazinger Tarragano, here. I am wondering why my mother and her family are not on the manifest. Surname: Weinstock – Herzl, Sala, Dovid, Gusia (my Mom). Thank you
the list is not complete because the SS destroyed the records. you need to contact Bernd Horstmann at Bergen Belsen. He is the Custodian of the Book of Names. Maybe they are in that, but not on this list. MR Bernd.Horstmann@stiftung-ng.de
Hello Matt,
I believe my father-in-law was part of the American Force that stopped that train. His name was Peter Frank. Did this name appear in your research?
Thanks,
Michael Boyle
Unit, job, age would be helpful.thanks
Peter Robert Frank was a first lieutenant with 743rd Tank Battalion. In 1945 he would have been 26 yoa. Thanks, Michael
I did a digital search and did not locate him in the regimental history (http://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/66/). maybe you will have more luck. D Company (2 tanks) was present at the liberation, but my new book details the travails of the 743 for context.
Peter Frank is listed on the http://30thinfantry.org/index2.shtml website under Bronze Star Recipients as follows: Frank, Peter R. 1st Lt of the 823 TD BN Unit, awarded the following – CIB, BS-m
Your father in law was in the 823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, not the 743rd Tank Battalion, which is why I could not locate him there. They were not at the liberation site but took over the town of Farsleben and ordered the villagers to care for the victims. Ch 14 my book.
MY friend has been told that her Grandfather; Sandor Klein (born 29 sep 1902 ) from KArcag died in a camp. But here he is on the list of prsoners liberated.
Is there anyway to find out what might have happened to him??
He was liberated at Farsleben. It is very possible that if he died ‘in a camp’, it was at Hillersleben in the days after liberation. See my book Chapter 14, or search this site using that keyword.
https://teachinghistorymatters.com/?s=Hillersleben
Additionally contact the institutions in the introductory paragraph. Good luck.
Dear Mr. Rozell
My mother
Rubinstein Dina (Danka) was saved in that train.
I was in contact with you in the past.
Please add her name to the survivors list.
Best Regards
Joseph Matzkel
21 Hameorer st. Givatayim
Israel
tel +972 52 502 3311
Joseph go here first to make sure she is on record with BB. Matthew https://bergen-belsen.stiftung-ng.de/en/research-and-documentation/listofnames/