Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Zofia Szostak - 1985


Zofia Szostak, a Gentile, was born in Tczew, Poland, and spent the war years in Bochnia, near Krakow Poland. After witnessing the deportation of Jews and the liquidation of the ghettos, she later joined the Polish Underground. After the war, in 1945, Zofia, future husband Emilian Marian Szostak (who was sent to a labor camp for almost 2 years in Germany after being arrested September 1939), and several others escaped out of Poland into Germany. Zofia married Emilian in Germany. Later they moved to England and finally settled in the Detroit area in the United States.

  1. Introduction
  2. Early Years
  3. Early Years II
  4. Before the War
  5. Before the War II
  6. War
  7. Invasion
  8. Escape
  9. Anti-Semitism
  10. Piłsudski
  11. German Soldier
  12. The Underground
  13. Arrests
  14. Fate of Friends and Neighbors
  15. Harassment
  16. Harassment II
  17. Deportation of Jews
  18. Germans
  19. Survivors
  20. Labor
  21. The Ghetto
  22. The Ghetto II
  23. Liquidation of the Ghetto
  24. Polish Government
  25. Stories of Jews in Hiding
  26. Children
  27. Legacy
  28. Memories
  29. Education
  30. Husband's Experience
  31. After the War
  32. After the War
  33. Conclusion

© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn