A survivor from Poland, Karol’s experience is different from many of the Polish Jews we have interviewed. When the war closed in, Karol and most of his immediate family made their way east, into the Soviet zone – his story reminds us of the Polish partition. From eastern Poland they entered the USSR, where they continued to push to the east, past Stalingrad. Most of the family ended up in Uzbekistan, but as military-age Karol fell under suspicion, the NKVD took him into custody, and he was sent to a gulag in Siberia, not too far from Omsk. There he survived the war, and at the edge of death, Karol attributes his survival to a kind doctor who kept him alive. When the end of the war came, Karol retraced his journey to the west, eventually making his way to Canada, where he and wife built a life in Montreal and Toronto.
Videos
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- 1. Karol Abramowicz - Prewar Memories.mp4
- 2. When the War Began .mp4
- 3. Moving out of Poland .mp4
- 4. Arriving in Stalingrad .mp4
- 5. Deeper into Russia .mp4
- 6. Moving to Tashkent .mp4
- 7. Living in Tashkent .mp4
- 8. Running Away .mp4
- 9. Conscripted into the Russian Working Army; Clearing the Forests.mp4
- 10. Omsk and the NKVD.mp4
- 11. Life in the Gulag.mp4
- 12. The Doctor.mp4
- 13. The End of the War; Amnesty.mp4
- 14. Released; Survival.mp4
