Marvin J. Pringle
Mr. Neuburger
Eng Comp 102-117
14 March 2013
Holocaust Testimony
“Joseph Morton”
This
interview is with Holocaust survivor Joseph Morton, formerly Mortkowitz, of
Mortonville, Illinois. Mr. Morton was
born in Lodz, Poland, on July 11, 1924, where he lived with his mother, father
and siblings. He was the oldest of six
children; spoke Polish and Yiddish in his youth. He spoke about his family and their lives in
Poland before the outbreak of World War II (WWII). He recalls lots of anti-Semitism in Lodz
prior to the war. Their oppressors are
equated to the KKK with the exception of the white sheets and hoods. After the
start of WWII, Lodz is turned into a ghetto by the German army and Jews are
segregated and tortured regularly. He talks about being shipped from Lodz to
Auschwitz concentration camp by train. Moving forward, he explains how he, his
father, brother and a cousin are “fortunate” to get moved to Dachau, a camp in
Germany. From here, they are moved around from camp to camp working and being
tortured. He states because they were in good condition and strong, this
allowed them to survive although being worked long and hard. When Germany was liberated by the Americans
he ended up in a hospital because of the Typhus he had contracted some time
earlier. He was reunited with his
father, brother, and cousin who take him out the hospital and to a Displaced
Persons (DP) camp. While in the DP camp, he registers to come to the United
States and is put on the waiting list.
He goes to Canada instead where he meets his future wife, also a
survivor, in Montreal. He finally finds his father in Chicago and moves in with
him from Montreal. He returns to Montreal, marries his sweetheart, brings her
back to the US and begins life as a holocaust survivor.
Two quotes by Mr.
Morton:
“we really didn’t know
what was going in in the outside world; we had no contact with anyone”
“sometimes it’s not
what you know, but who you know”
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