https://www.tonybernard.com.au/resources-gallery daily 0.75 2022-05-04 https://www.tonybernard.com.au/resources-gallery/before-the-war monthly 0.5 2022-05-04 https://www.tonybernard.com.au/resources-gallery/tomaszow-ghetto monthly 0.5 2022-05-04 https://www.tonybernard.com.au/resources-gallery/concentration-camps monthly 0.5 2022-05-04 https://www.tonybernard.com.au/resources-gallery/victims-and-survivors monthly 0.5 2022-05-04 https://www.tonybernard.com.au/resources-gallery/life-in-sydney monthly 0.5 2022-05-04 https://www.tonybernard.com.au/resources-gallery/darmstadt-war-crimes-trial monthly 0.5 2022-05-04 https://www.tonybernard.com.au/about daily 0.75 2022-03-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/5403bfec-a38c-4717-b91e-b41bf009ce65/Tony+Bernard+Headshot+WEB+LONG.jpeg Author Bio - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ce435d6bea1ed00016ba287/1558964652247-5MWXNMFZVOPGE4TY6U2Q/MHeiderich_ReflexionenZwei-05-copy.jpg Author Bio https://www.tonybernard.com.au/home daily 1.0 2024-05-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/c8746b8e-57e7-4e49-be04-df234fb3e2d9/BERNARD+-+The+Ghost+Tattoo+Cover+WEB.jpeg Home Tobias Keene, D.D.S. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Tobias Keene brings a bit of unabashed Southern hospitality to all his patients. He moved to Washington, D.C. over thirty years ago as a freshman at Ivy College. Right after graduation, he attended World University’s School of Dentistry. Before opening Keene Dental in 1994, he worked for free clinics and some of the finest practices in the District. He is part of the 123 Dental Association and stays up-to-date on the latest dental discoveries. When not striving to keep his patients happy and healthy, he’s enjoys hiking with his family in Rock Creek Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/09ee7fb3-26bb-4d8d-b947-5e088f4f4d0f/IMG_0274.jpeg Home - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/2d8cd516-51a7-4a16-a20e-710292b28150/Unknown.jpeg Home - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/ef401c6d-bee0-4ca3-8b3a-647fd171fbb3/Tony+Bernard+Headshot+WEB.jpeg Home - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/ae8216ae-b069-4833-8eee-806ed07d0a46/Tony+Bernard+-+Thin+Image+Banner.png Home - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.tonybernard.com.au/contact daily 0.75 2022-03-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ce435d6bea1ed00016ba287/1558964652247-5MWXNMFZVOPGE4TY6U2Q/MHeiderich_ReflexionenZwei-05-copy.jpg Contact https://www.tonybernard.com.au/the-ghost-tattoo daily 0.75 2022-04-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/c8746b8e-57e7-4e49-be04-df234fb3e2d9/BERNARD+-+The+Ghost+Tattoo+Cover+WEB.jpeg The Ghost Tattoo - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ce435d6bea1ed00016ba287/1558964652247-5MWXNMFZVOPGE4TY6U2Q/MHeiderich_ReflexionenZwei-05-copy.jpg The Ghost Tattoo https://www.tonybernard.com.au/terms-of-use daily 0.75 2022-02-11 https://www.tonybernard.com.au/privacy-policy daily 0.75 2022-02-11 https://www.tonybernard.com.au/media daily 0.75 2024-05-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/61accf60-cb6d-447c-b4b7-e5a961569313/IMG_1882.png Media - HOLOCAUST MEMOIR AWARD In memory of Dr Charles and Ethel Weitzman National Jewish Book Awards 2024 New York March 26 2024 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/ae37ddf4-cd13-450d-baa7-7cbb2244d67b/John+Laws+%26+Tony+Bernard.png Media - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ce435d6bea1ed00016ba287/1558964652247-5MWXNMFZVOPGE4TY6U2Q/MHeiderich_ReflexionenZwei-05-copy.jpg Media https://www.tonybernard.com.au/before-the-war daily 0.75 2023-11-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/5ab090a2-9efe-420c-b2c6-d9a154af5e42/Image+1.jpeg Before the War - Henry’s high school on Moscickiego street The arch and steps at the entrance is where the following photo of Henry and Hallina’s matriculating class of 1938 was taken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/9c9cf385-aa16-4fd0-a236-23d3a2e6680c/Scan+90.jpeg Before the War - Henry’s favourite photograph of his mother Theodora. This is Henry’s favourite photo of his mother Theodora, which he kept in his wardrobe drawer along with his concentration camp uniform. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/3d863ea7-099f-443a-8a56-85c344b6a64b/1927+Family+Photo+enhanced+and+colorized+%285%29.jpeg Before the War - Make it stand out Silver wedding anniversary 1927 of Henry’s aunt Matylda and Leon Stecki (seated on the right)-(both were gassed in Treblinka). On the far left is Henry Stecki who would survive the war. On the far right standing is Isador Stecki. Rear row standing left to right Theodora (gassed) and Bernard (typhus) ( Henry’s parents) and Regina(shot) and Dr Henry Bierznski ( Henry’s uncle) with their young son Jan. Front row seated on the left is Henry’s grandmother Berta who was shot. Isador handed himself over to the Gestapo after they had killed his wife and daughter. He has never been seen since. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/7d029e6c-1b79-43b5-b3ea-35f1ff5f5b7b/school+photo.jpeg Before the War - Make it stand out Henry (1) and Halina (6) in their final class photo on matriculation in 1938. Halina was dux of the year. The anti-Semites Woicki (2) and Baranowksi (5), Volkesdeutsche friends Pallas (3) and Gallert (4) are also shown. The majority of the women in the photo were Jewish and most did not survive the Holocaust. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/b2989f44-90c7-46af-aa52-6ccb9b84e7ab/Scan+71.jpeg Before the War - Happy Days- Summer vacation in Zakopane 1938 Henry was invited to spend the summer holidays with Hallina and her family in the mountains at Zakopane after their matriculation and before he headed off for his first year of medical studies in Montpellier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/fb47a2a9-0424-482d-ad41-9f0fcd4e0aa0/Scan+81.jpeg Before the War - Make it stand out Ignacy, Theodora, Henry, Dora Gayst (Henry’s first cousin) and Bernard in 1937 in Tomaszow during Dora’s farewell visit before she left to emigrate to Australia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/0a0d68e7-b646-4dfb-8454-565295e847c4/IMG_2595+%281%29.jpeg Before the War - Halina’s sister Roma Aronson Roma was Halina’s older sister and survived the war with their mother, moving to New Zealand in 1947. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/5a9b24ee-193d-4d85-bf38-6eb280972dee/Henry%27s+Montpellier+certificate.jpeg Before the War - Make it stand out Certificate of Study in Physics, Chemistry and Biology 1939 The certificate issued to Henry after he had completed his first year of medicine at Montpellier dated 24 July 1939. The certificate was folded and buried during the war resulting in the visible creases and stains. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/b59ee1de-bb61-4dd0-a611-69d8e9fb0e50/Poland+photos+14.jpeg Before the War - Halina’s House 2001 Halina’s home was in one of these villas in the grounds of the then Bornstein textile factories. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/c0ce5bef-238c-4dea-aef4-f0e1b34f912b/20230328_124821.jpeg Before the War - Halina’s father Jusef Aronson Jusef was a manager in the Bornstein textile factories before the war. His wife Zosia the daughter of the owner, David Bornstein. Jusef died of typhus in the Blyzin concentration camp in 1944. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/862d68ca-124d-4f45-99d8-0f343dc38ec6/1920+Bierzynski+Family+Enhanced+%26+Colorized.JPG Before the War - Make it stand out The Bierzynski Family and their wives on the wedding day of Bernard and Theodora,1920 [L-R] Henry’s father Bernard, mother Theodora, grandmother Berta, uncle Dr Henry’s wife Regina, aunt Matilda, uncle Dr Henry, grandfather Nathan, uncle Benjamin’s wife Stephania and uncle Benjamin. Nathan would die in 1930 and Benjamin would die of cancer in 1941. All the others in the photo would be killed during the Holocaust. Of their total of nine children, eight would survive the war; only Matylda’s son Isador perished. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/2ab02f09-b0d2-4b0f-9b79-bc687a24b1c9/Henry+Matricula.jpeg Before the War - Henry’s matriculation certificate Henry’s subjects are graded as dobrze or bardzo dobrze ( good or very good) . https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/57049013-6b45-4067-910e-ec7ae3009c2c/IMG_2595.jpeg Before the War - Halina’s mother Zosia Aronson The daughter of the industrialist David Bornstein, Zosia survived the Blyzin, Auschwitz and Neustadt Glewe concentration camps with her older daughter Roma. They both emigrated to a new life in New Zealand in 1947. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/0487c821-1885-4a45-a2e2-87a669e97abb/IMG_0967.jpeg Before the War - Benjamin Bierzynski An extract regarding Henry’s uncle Benjamin, who died of natural causes in 1941. His birth year was actually 1887. It refers to his period of incarceration in 1905 by the Russians. Bierzynski is also misspelt. Częstochowa Jews- a Biographical Dictionary-The World Society of Częstochowa Jews. Czestochowajews.org https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/a4e489d9-40c9-4401-9363-65920782dc17/Scan+63.jpeg Before the War - Henry’s class photo 1936 Halina’s cousin, Bronka Rajgrodska, who died of a cardiac arrest before the war in 1938, is seated second form the right in the second row from the front ( wearing a white top with the row of heart shaped dark buttons and black belt). She was the girlfriend of Erwin Pallas, Henry’s Volkesdeutcher friend. Henry is in the next row third from the right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1644467543894-P43EX6F49WVCZ3MZW44Z/Application+for+Identity+Card+-+aronson_halina.jpg Before the War - Halina Aronson’s application for Identity Card Halina’s application form. State Archive Piotrkow Trybunalski. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1644467543842-9P2KMWNW4AWNZN86O2PF/Application+for+Identity+Card+-+henryk_biez%CC%87yn%CC%81ski.jpg Before the War - Henry’s application for an Identity Card This is Henry’s application form for his identity card at age 18. State Archive in Piotrkow Trybunalski. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/c8746b8e-57e7-4e49-be04-df234fb3e2d9/BERNARD+-+The+Ghost+Tattoo+Cover+WEB.jpeg Before the War - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ce435d6bea1ed00016ba287/1558964652247-5MWXNMFZVOPGE4TY6U2Q/MHeiderich_ReflexionenZwei-05-copy.jpg Before the War https://www.tonybernard.com.au/the-tomaszw-ghetto daily 0.75 2023-11-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/10a58aee-b50a-46f3-bfb8-93e987f03ffa/20231127_212250.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Make it stand out Marriage registration document for Henry and Halina dated 21 November 1942 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/84a5540d-222b-4dc8-9201-4bdf4e90b474/IMG_2627.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Tomaszow Railway Station In front of this building a Gestapo man attempted to shoot Henry in the head but had fortunately run out of bullets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/e2bc5826-9ea4-43f0-8ced-9862da4be9ed/IMG_1320.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Tomaszow showing the route of the deportation to the railway station This shows the route from the ghetto to the station for the deportation to Treblinka October/November 1942. The ghetto, Jewish cemetery and Gestapo headquarters are also shown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/4574b55c-77b0-4a34-b83d-3c7785ce7d32/h_13_darmstadt%231638%C2%A7144%7E0015.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Benjamin Fuchs, Volkesdeutscher Schupo in Tomaszow. Photo from his application for German citizenship. He was a convicted child killer and mass murderer boasting at having killed more than 160 Jews in Tomaszow. Among his many crimes, he was witnessed to have picked up a baby by the neck from its crib and to have shot it point blank and on another occasion to have burned a man alive. (Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/a3c5e22a-8117-4893-8dae-b382ffc367b8/h_13_darmstadt%231638%C2%A7144%7E0010.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Gestapo Chief Tomaszów 1942-1943 SS Hauptsturmführer Hermann Wiese Memorial Day March 1943 Wiese was deputy Gestapo chief under Karl Macher but became Gestapo chief from September 1943 to September 1943. Note the Totenkopf (Skull and crossbones) badge on his cap band. He ran the selection, at the Church of St Wensceslas on Wiecznosc St on 2 November 1942, of those with ‘cover’ from the Jewish ghetto workshop, sending many, including my grandmother Theodora, to their deaths in Treblinka. (Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/99f1b490-c1c1-40cb-a2d2-f3505a720bea/IMG_2637.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Treblinka Extermination Camp Memorial This is all that was found remaining at the Treblinka site after the camp had been demolished by the Nazis in their attempt to hide their crimes. This material is the residue found in the base of the roasting pits where the bodies of the murdered Jewish community were burned. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/4a66c682-4a86-4068-a438-07a348149f85/IMG_0752.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Tomaszów Ghetto 1942 Starving children and adults in the ghetto. One effect of the starvation was to dehumanise the Jewish population so to make them look different to the local Polish population. (Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/77e634c1-bd0b-4b65-b04e-6c4277efc485/h_13_darmstadt%231638%C2%A7144%7E0018.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Schutzpolizei Chief 1941-1945 Revierhauptmann Karl Grösser Memorial Day March 1943 Statements by witnesses describe Grösser ordering the execution of many Jews in Tomaszow and he was responsible for the implementation of the ‘shooting order’ by his men. However he was not tried for his many crimes but instead was a witness at the Darmstadt trial, professing his anguish at issuing the ‘shooting order’. (Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/fded67fd-1285-4017-b87f-4f5fc5dddca2/IMG_0776.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - German police patrolling during the deportation October 1942 (Courtesy of Tomaszow-Mazowiecki Yizkor Book.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/8ea412fc-815b-40b6-a09a-422606f8b923/Poland+photos+17.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Ghetto Police and Jewish Council Office in Tomaszow Photo taken in 1997 showing what had been the ghetto police and Jewish Council office building during the ghetto period. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/75615f87-b29e-4f11-8d87-ec11afd5a66f/GHETTO3.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Tomaszów synagogue ruins The Tomaszów synagogue on the corner of Handlowa and Wschodnia streets was destroyed by the Nazis on 16 October 1939. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1644467577530-Y38LJ31DYR1M2EKTFS1H/Henry+portrait+for+false+ID.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Henry in the small ghetto This is a photo taken in the small ghetto when Henry was taking photographs for fake ID cards. Note the white sheet behind him for background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/631b0fa4-513b-4682-9516-e4320a601a67/IMG_2746.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Make it stand out Map of Tomaszów Mazowiecki showing the position of the ghetto and landmarks The light shaded area at the bottom shows the area that was shaved off the ghetto, causing more crowding. The dark shaded triangular area shows the position of the the ‘Small Ghetto’ officially known as the Tomaszow Labour Camp after the deportation in November 1942. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/f5ece414-8bd8-48e0-afd6-1c6ec6a44cc4/IMG_2626.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Leistenfabrik, Tomaszów Ghetto This is the factory over looking the assembly point in the ghetto where the Jewish Community were assembled for deportation October 31, 1942. Henry’s brother Ignacy was employed here and observed the deportation from this factory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/7a5a168f-26af-406c-a7e9-48816afa988b/IMG_0753.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Tomaszów Ghetto 1942 The starving Jewish inhabitants were thin and emaciated. (Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/214dc485-03e6-4cbc-adf6-e12d232b0fd9/IMG_0751.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Fredek Hirschsprung A childhood photo of Fredek who was about 22 when he and his brother Jerzy were murdered by Boettig. (US Holocaust Memorial Museum) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/859d3faf-422a-4ce9-a134-6a89ee50eba3/Poland+photos+4.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Assembly Point Tomaszow Ghetto This is a photo from 1997 of what had been the assembly point in the ghetto, also known as the Umschlagplatz or Sommelplatz. This is where the Jewish community was herded, formed into columns of five abreast and then marched to the railway station 5 km away for transport to the Treblinka extermination camp (31 October and 2 November 1942). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/53bdd2dc-f8b9-4c49-9654-03a602260643/P1010114_1.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Treblinka Memorial The memorial pillar which stands on the site of the Treblinka gas chambers taken from the position of the railway platform. The path shows the short distance between the train and the gas chambers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/8f6322cc-c4a6-4311-be29-65dcc8efbdca/P1010007_1.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Tomaszow railway station This is where the Tomaszow Jewish community was loaded onto wagons for deportation to the Treblinka extermination camp on two day; 31 October and 2 November 1942. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1644467569555-R0SCNFMID5AC9FJ6OU0P/Ghetto+from+cover.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Make it stand out Public baths, Tcaka St Tomaszow 1940 Photo from the cover of the book shows a Jewish work detail marching past the public bathhouse in Tkacka St, on their way to work on the Wolborka riverbanks. (Wieslaw Strzelecki Collection). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/2d3a4f6c-3aee-4df4-8e4f-5e14ea2e4e8b/50978+%281%29.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Tomaszow September 1939 German police and anti-Semitic locals enjoy the humiliation of a Jewish man. (US Holocaust memorial Museum) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/77664026-02a5-4dea-a74f-937591ad9dc0/P1010175_1.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Mass graves Jewish cemetery Tomaszow Henry is walking past one of the concrete bordered mass graves in the Tomaszow Jewish cemetery in 1997. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/e0af519f-a8e5-4028-9adb-c5adba193553/IMG_2631.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Jewish Cemetery Tomaszów This upturned sarcophagus was dumped by looting Nazis who were trying to steal it from the Jewish Cemetery but found it too heavy to move. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/8d4386ca-5b4a-4aa2-bb7a-8a94bdeb4305/IMG_1429.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Ghetto Gate on Jerozolimska Street The ghetto gate is visible on the far right of the photo. (Jerzy Pawlik Collection in Black Silhouettes) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1644467589221-3BBKA0WOVOJOA5VPOIK5/Jewish+youth+in+the+ghetto.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Make it stand out Zenek Neumann and Yitzak Rosenblat Akiba Your Group Tomaszow ghetto 1942 A photo of the Jewish youth group Akiba in the Tomaszow ghetto, 1942. The boys in the front with their arms draped around each other are Zenek Neumark in the white shirt and Yitzak Rosenblat with the glasses. Henry was standing next to Yitzak at Auschwitz in 1944 when he was selected for the gas chamber because of his polio wasted leg. The photo was folded and carried by Judy Lachman (below the hole and behind Yitzak) throughout the war. (US Holocaust memorial Museum) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/892f9a00-1f9d-4b62-91aa-f8bd3bbf213d/IMG_0754.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Tomaszów Ghetto 1942 A starving ghetto inhabitant with a Jewish policeman in the background. (Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1407a3eb-4b73-4eb7-a668-e3427ec435be/IMG_0749.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Georg Boettig , newspaper picture The Gestapo serial killer and rapist Georg Boettig terrorised the inhabitants of the ghetto. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/ce3c1558-844d-4fa6-bbba-5b42d252b59c/Scan+109.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Ignacy 1942 A photo of Ignacy taken in the ghetto in 1942 and used on his forged identity card. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/83480a41-28c1-43d8-8eab-e4319875e018/IMG_2747.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Make it stand out Route of the march to the Tomaszow railway station for the deportation to the Treblinka extermination camp 30 October and 1 November 1942. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/84057008-68bc-41c5-b714-77ce3c715d83/IMG_0767.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Georg Boettig in 1939 This is Beottig’s photo from his application for German citizenship after the Nazi occupation in 1939. Because he spoke Polish fluently he would start as translator at Gestapo interrogations but moved on to becoming a gestapo executioner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/22ed15d8-16a9-4057-872b-6fcf16ff4837/Poland+photos.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Site of the murder of Dr Hirschsprung Henry is standing in front of Dr Hirschsprung’s ghetto house at the site of his murder. Dr Hirschsprung’s sons Fredek and Jerzy witnessed the murder from the balcony where the person is seated, crying out that this was murder. Boettig said to the sons, “I’ll be back”, and a couple of nights later returned and shot them both. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/ba848ba2-8899-47f4-b3ca-c8c05cfd6d0c/IMG_0774.PNG Tomaszów Ghetto - Tomaszów Ghetto 1942 A murdered Jew on the street with a German policeman standing proudly nearby. (Courtesy of Tomaszow-Mazowiecki Yizkor Book.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/e65d690e-6cd3-42da-b200-f3ee3a1793ed/IMG_9278.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Arrest Warrant for Georg Boettig This is the arrest warrant for Georg Boettig , revoking his bail, issued 9 July 1970 after Henry finished giving his evidence. Henry’s evidence convicted Boettig of the murder of Dr Hirschsprung, although Henry was never aware of this fact. The main part reads: ‘He is suspected, in the spring of 1942 in Tomaszow, to have killed a person for low motives. He is strongly suspected at the specified time in Wiecznoszstrasse in Tomaszow, at night as a member of the local Gestapo office, to have shot the Jewish lawyer Dr Hirschsprungon the street in front of his apartment for racial reasons. Crime punishable under S211 of the Criminal Code. The strong suspicion arises from the sworn testimony of the witness Dr Henry Bierzynski Bernard in the main hearing of the jury trial on July 8 and 9 1970.” (Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/56563069-0b43-40ac-8e6b-28380260186f/h_13_darmstadt%231638%C2%A7144%7E0018.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Senior Tomaszów Nazi police commanders at Memorial Day 1943 Senior Nazi Police Officers in Tomaszow on Memorial Day 1943. The first on the left is the Schupo commander Grösser and the fourth from the left (tall and looking at camera) is Wiese, the Gestapo chief, who selected Henry’s mother Theodora for deportation to Treblinka on 2 November 1942. Grösser has a larger police badge on his cap band whereas Wiese has the smaller Totenkopf (skull and cross bones) badge of the SS. (Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/aa8ff0a7-b54a-40d2-bc05-357ac7f4b953/shotsaug05+158.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Warsaw, September 1939 The building arches in Warsaw under which Henry and the American student sheltered during the air bombing raid. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/054d70b0-81c8-453c-abcd-423a3a18ea61/IMG_2629.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Pawiak Prison memorial, Warsaw The remnant of Pawiak Prison which was the main prison in Nazi occupied Warsaw in which thousands perished and is now a memorial museum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/809c36df-4166-4a77-b7e3-88983f2d3c43/P8160092.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Treblinka Henry considered Treblinka to be the grave of his mother and collected some soil to keep as a memorial . The commemorative stones behind him commemorate the murder of Jews from the towns and villages of Poland. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/3d3e41b3-7162-46df-91b0-2d1abbfa8af0/IMG_0775.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Deportation of Tomaszów Jews October 1942 (Courtesy of Tomaszow-Mazowiecki Yizkor Book.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/4f3f829f-1eac-4f33-bf81-a513c587462b/IMG_0755.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Tomaszów Ghetto 1942 Majer Erlich and ghetto inhabitants. (Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/cddb325b-6c0f-4b3c-9a58-1abb2eb16c19/h_13_darmstadt%231638%C2%A7144%7E0012+%281%29.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Schutzpolizei (Schupo) Tomaszow Some Tomaszów Nazi Schutzpolizei (Schupo) with their wives. The policeman in the dark uniform in the middle is a Polish town policeman known as ‘Blue Police’. The Schupo had helmets and rifles and looked like soldiers. (Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/c720e525-5041-4bfb-b2e0-6430b88cf2f5/h_13_darmstadt%231638%C2%A7144%7E0008.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Schupo man Holz Holz was a Schupo killer in the ghetto and was overheard bragging to Fuchs that he had killed 190 Jews in Tomaszow. The numbers on theses photos are from their application for German citizenship. (Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/50bb7905-5a1a-4398-918a-4d4c9220922f/tempImagei2wGbL.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - St Wenceslas church on Wiecznosc St A photo of the church and its grounds in 1942, site of the selection of Jews from the Jewish workshop, who were meant to be exempt from deportation. It was from here that Theodora and others were sent to the Umschlagplatz further west along Wiecznosc St, for the march to the railway station. ( Black Sillouhettes/ Jerzy Pawlik Collection) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/509fca37-42f6-46d5-8768-f4daec81f294/75798+%281%29.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Dr Jacob Hirschsprung Dr Hirschsprung was a member of the Jewish Council who was murdered by Georg Boettig in April 1942. After taking Dr Hirschsprung from his house in the ghetto Boettig ordered him to turn and face the wall. DR Hirschsprung told Boettig, “ I am an old Austrian officer and if you going to shoot me you can shoot me in the face. I know how one should die.” Boettig said it did not matter and then shot Dr Hirschsprung in the face. (sketch by Oren Lutenbach, US Holocaust Memorial Museum) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/aaaf3de8-de0c-4864-83f3-8b4f0c1952b7/IMG_2638.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Treblinka Extermination Camp Memorial The symbolic platform at the Treblinka extermination camp memorial, where the trains from Tomaszow would have arrived on the mornings of 1 and 3 November 1942. It was a short distance to the gas chambers from here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/de49069f-426b-4806-831a-ba08d5cbba79/Scan+70.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Henry 1942 This photo was taken in the ghetto around the time of Henry’s marriage to Halina and appears on the cover of the book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/024dbd35-773e-426c-83b5-a1eab3b6d4d9/IMG_1428.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Jews doing forced labour A Jewish forced labour gang working on regulating the Wolborka River. (Grzegorz Weglarski Collection in Black Silhouettes) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/87bb9a0e-949e-4f29-8585-fb1fc488b549/unnamed.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Ordnungsmann Majer Erlich Judischer Ordnungsman became known as ghetto police. Henry knew Majer Erlich whose rank is denoted by the single button on his hatband. ( Wielsaw Strzelecki Collection) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1638a371-1987-4209-b056-7cee3282ec44/IMG_2634.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Jewish Cemetery Tomaszów Henry and Ignacy visiting their father’s grave in 1997. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/8c967474-4ba2-446b-b40e-5ce3e41466e2/IMG_2628.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Tomaszów Ghetto This is where the brother of the Jewish Police Chief Wajnrab was located by Rejgrodski https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/74599bdc-bede-4c19-a4d3-181e39b0b8ae/Tetka+1942.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto - Tetka Robinson, Ignacy’s girlfriend Tetka was Ignacy’s girlfriend from the ghetto. Ignacy prepared false ID for her which also was smuggled to Henry in the Blizyn concentration camp. Tetka died of typhus in Blizyn in 1944 at the age of 18. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/fb7d4200-5f2d-4398-b423-5a43d24c240a/IMG_0769.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - DZIK 2017 A Polish movie called ‘Wild Boar’ was made in 2017 about the Gestapo killer Georg Boettig. The Poles hate Boettig and he and Fuchs would have been hanged for their crimes had they been extradited to Poland back in the 1960s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/c8746b8e-57e7-4e49-be04-df234fb3e2d9/BERNARD+-+The+Ghost+Tattoo+Cover+WEB.jpeg Tomaszów Ghetto - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ce435d6bea1ed00016ba287/1558964652247-5MWXNMFZVOPGE4TY6U2Q/MHeiderich_ReflexionenZwei-05-copy.jpg Tomaszów Ghetto https://www.tonybernard.com.au/the-concentration-camps daily 0.75 2023-07-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/a9ec4e4f-85bf-476e-a7a9-caf682984dc5/IMG_0744.jpeg Concentration Camps - Execution Blizyn Concentration Camp A sketch depicting an execution at Blizyn from the booklet; (I was a Prisoner at the Blizyn Concentration Camp by Dawid Wainapel.( Company of Friends of Blizyn 1990 ) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/aa98036c-d779-4f11-acec-e4076a72565e/IMG_2602.jpg Concentration Camps - Weingut 2, Kaufering , Bavaria , 1944-45 View of one end of the building giving an idea of it’s size. (photo album of site manager OT Rudolf Neuhaus) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/5ed38776-746f-4611-90e2-14ca6f3f79d5/IMG_2605.jpg Concentration Camps - Weingut 2, Kaufering, Bavaria 1944-45 Front view of the structure. (photo album of site manager OT Rudolf Neuhaus) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/9cde9c76-7cbe-497c-8b4b-fddcd7a08e17/IMG_2518.jpg Concentration Camps - German Restitution document 1956 continued This shows the total number of months Henry was in captivity during the Holocaust; a total of 52 months for which he was compensated 112.50 Deutsch marks/month totalling DM 5850 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1644468166152-B4RRR2RUKF8H3IYXN4VY/Hospital+admission+31+may+1945.png Concentration Camps - US Army Hospital Landsberg 1945 Document listing Henry’s admission to 116 Evacuation Hospital, Landsberg with Typhus fever. 31 May 1945 . (Arolsen Archive) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/d2cb91a1-834c-42ef-b306-6d29231780b6/IMG_7935.jpeg Concentration Camps - Landsberg, Germany 1945 Henry’s business card while camp secretary at the Landsberg Displaced Persons Camp. The card carries the various concentration camp numbers he carried throughout the war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/5ea2458e-296f-460b-9d2a-6fa4e0a8f66f/IMG_2740.jpeg Concentration Camps - Dr Dawid Wainapel Dawid Wainapel was the Jewish doctor from Radom, who ran the medical clinic in the Blizyn camp. He wrote the book ‘ From Death Row to Freedom’, about his Holocaust experience. He makes reference to Henry, the medical student from Montpellier, in his book and was a medical role model for Henry. (I was a Prisoner at the Blizyn Concentration Camp by Dawid Wainapel. [Company of Friends of Blizyn 1990]) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/445c8a22-a102-448b-9ea4-34866b5b4a30/IMG_0742.jpeg Concentration Camps - Blizyn Concentration Camp 1943 Henry, Ignacy, Halina and her family and the other surviving Jews from the Tomaszow Small Ghetto were transported to Blizyn in May 1943 on completion of the clearing out of the Tomaszow Ghetto. This map marks the camp perimeter, the Kamienna River dividing the camp with the upper camp for Germans and guards closer to the road and black and white marked railway line. The lower camp for Jewish prisoners and workshops has diagonal marking. (I was a Prisoner at the Blizyn Concentration Camp by Dawid Wainapel.( Company of Friends of Blizyn 1990 )) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1644467558156-5DSYG2H387ZEA73HBW40/Auschwitz+Chronicle+3.jpg Concentration Camps - Auschwitz, July 31 1944 Entry from the Auschwitz archives for 31 July 1944 showing arrival of Jewish prisoners from Blizyn. Henry’s tattooed number B-1224 is within the range indicated in this entry. (Auschwitz Chronicle) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/b637a6a6-6210-4503-9cb4-6be79b5afd2f/weingut+2.jpg Concentration Camps - Make it stand out Weingut II Kaufering 1944 A diagram of the subsurface, partially buried concrete jet aircraft factory where Henry worked as one of 23,000 slave labourers from October 1944 until liberation in late April 1945. The structure was built by the Moll company and consisted of a shaped gravel semicylindrical mound over which a steel reinforced concrete shell was poured. The gravel was then excavated out using the tunnel and rail cars and was then covered with gravel and soil before being covered by vegetation. The 5 storey factory built Messerschmidt 262 jet aircraft. (Wikimedia Commons) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/28e1e8b6-7c3f-4495-9f20-1498a538de97/IMG_2604.jpg Concentration Camps - Weingut 2 Kaufering Bavaria 1944-45 Side view of the structure (photo album of site manager OT Rudolf Neuhaus) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/870f8f15-b3f3-465a-86ec-9cac0f03ed0d/IMG_0062.jpeg Concentration Camps - Henry’s ‘blue striped pyjamas’ After liberation in Kaufering, inmates were given US army uniforms and concentration camp uniforms were burned. Henry had changed already and as an afterthought grabbed this uniform as a memento from the pile being burned. It was not his uniform in the camp. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/4648496e-be56-4aa9-8de7-cb6c43bb4238/IMG_2647.jpeg Concentration Camps - Gas Chamber, Auschwitz This is the entrance stairs down to the undressing room. The roof has been destroyed by the SS as they tried to demolish the gas chambers prior to their retreat. However the basic structure of the facility is there for all to see. The gas chamber itself adjoins to the right side of the undressing room and the remains of the crematorium can be seen at the far end of the room. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/bd3d8484-df51-4edc-b22f-5bd66560e53f/IMG_2745.jpeg Concentration Camps - Firing Squad Execution, Blizyn Concentration Camp A sketch depicting an execution in the camp. (I was a Prisoner at the Blizyn Concentration Camp by Dawid Wainapel.( Company of Friends of Blizyn 1990 )) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1644468164343-A2YQ013OX8GG4E113V3P/Hospital+discharge+document.png Concentration Camps - US Army Hospital Unit No 2 Document with listing Henry’s discharge from hospital after his admission with Typhus. 13 June 1945. (Arolsen Archive) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/3fed8206-ed4d-4130-9013-aee43f861112/IMG_2517.jpg Concentration Camps - German Restitution document 1956 This document, issued by the Mainz Government District Office for Compensation and Managed Assets, acknowledges and lists Henry’s periods of incarceration Jan 1940-Dec 1940 was for having to wear the Star of David Dec 1940-Nov 1942 was for the Tomaszow ghetto The Auschwitz Archive shows Henry arrived in Auschwitz in July 1944 and not May. 1944, a 2 month difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/d4bb091c-3cb2-4956-a419-43146d8a8532/IMG_2636.jpg Concentration Camps - Blizyn Concentration camp site 1997 The camp site is now occupied by factories. This fence shows remnants of the concentration camp fencing which are the curved concrete posts which carried the barbed wire fence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/e9ee0ef0-e008-4328-817f-ed70c1b2cd04/IMG_2747.jpeg Concentration Camps - Blizyn Concentration camp; depiction of scene with a guard dog. [I was a Prisoner at the Blizyn Concentration Camp by Dawid Wainapel. ( Company of Friends of Blizyn 1990 )] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/60394578-4c5d-4ac3-9ec8-713a5fb69ca5/IMG_2648.jpeg Concentration Camps - Gas Chamber, Auschwitz This is the gas chamber which lay perpendicular to the undressing room. The roof has been collapsed into the chamber by the attempted demolition of the facility by the retreating Nazis. The gas chamber could hold 2,000 victims who would be killed with cyanide gas over about 15 minutes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1644467567906-227F451955SQ8FBA1DRW/Dachau.png Concentration Camps - Dachau/ Kaufering, October 27 1944 Henry’s registration document at Dachau on his way to the Kaufering sub-camp. The ‘R’ is missing from Bierzynski and Halina is missing the ‘H’ but that is Henry’s signature at the bottom. ( Arolsen Archive) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/4266122b-091e-4873-940b-c0393ee4eb9e/IMG_1321.jpg Concentration Camps - Make it stand out This map shows Henry’s journey throughout the war and Halina’s death March in January 1945 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/c8746b8e-57e7-4e49-be04-df234fb3e2d9/BERNARD+-+The+Ghost+Tattoo+Cover+WEB.jpeg Concentration Camps - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ce435d6bea1ed00016ba287/1558964652247-5MWXNMFZVOPGE4TY6U2Q/MHeiderich_ReflexionenZwei-05-copy.jpg Concentration Camps https://www.tonybernard.com.au/survivors daily 0.75 2022-05-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/7ba074d8-e560-4e31-8fcd-4bfee8620a2c/1927+Family+Photo+enhanced+and+colorized+%281%29.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Matylda and Leon Stecki, Henry’s aunt and her husband Matylda and Leon were incarcerated in the Czestochowa ghetto before being deported to the Treblinka extermination camp where they were gassed in October 1942. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1ac64e03-8856-40f1-99c0-82d8fb995a39/IMG_2762.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Adolf (Dolek) Bierzynski and his sister Krystyna Stamper 1979 L to R friend, Krystyna, Dolek, friend and Henry during Krystyna’s and Dolek’s visit to Sydney in 1979. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/8960ee34-ded5-49e5-ba8b-ce899e5518d5/Scan+67.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Halina’s grave, Neustadt-Glewe 1945 Halina died of TB a month after liberation in June 1945. Her grave is marked as Halina Bierzynska in recognition of her marriage to Henry. The cemetery was bulldozed by the East German government in 1969. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/3c084a61-2934-49e7-b3db-03fcfd331a5a/Scan+5+%281%29.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Shimon Gayst, Henry’s maternal uncle Shimon was Theodora’s brother and was gassed with his wife and daughter in the Chelmno extermination camp in 1942. His sister Paula married Max Rosenthal and had two daughters; Dora and Halina. Paula died of natural causes in 1940. Dora emigrated to Australia in 1937 but Max and Halina were killed in Chelmno in 1942 (see below). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/cae64475-3803-4680-9f2e-66fb6aa73933/Unknown.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Red Cross Letter from Max Rosenthal to his daughter Dora Winikoff (nee Gayst), Henry’s cousin in Australia 1941. This is the last letter to Dora from her father Max, who was in the Zychlin ghetto, close to their home town of Kutno, in a region of Poland which was then incorporated into Nazi Germany. The Zychlin ghetto was liquidated on 3 March 1942 with all inhabitants killed in the Chelmno extermination camp. The letter reads; “Dearest child, congratulations on your marriage it makes me very happy. The whole family welcomes your new occupation, Doctor Winokoff , your loving father.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/18ced365-6c96-4f9b-9f29-acc97ded76db/1927+Family+Photo+enhanced+and+colorized+%283%29.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Berta Bierzynka, Henry’s paternal grandmother Matylda’s mother Berta was living with her son Dr Henry Bierzynski, his wife Regina and their children in the house in the Bedowska valley when she was arrested and shot alongside Regina by German police in the summer 1941. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/ed506b0e-f370-4124-a372-615c251e9584/IMG_9062.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Dr Henry Bierzynski, 1949 Henry’s uncle, who inspired Henry to do medicine and obstetrics. He lived with his second wife Natalia and children in post war Poland before emigrating to Australia in 1959. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/f5b85d26-da32-4ee4-aab7-83800966852d/1927+Family+Photo+enhanced+and+colorized+%282%29.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Theodora and Bernard Bierzynski, Henry’s parents Both would be killed in 1942, Bernard by typhus in the crowded Tomaszow ghetto and Theodora in the Treblinka extermination camp. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/24db250f-7483-4efc-a41a-4b0a0e8f2f34/IMG_1446.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Hela Gayst, Henry’s cousin Hela was the daughter of Henry’s maternal uncle Shimon. Hela’s brother Harry managed to emigrate to Australia before the war but she perished with her parents in the Chelmno extermination camp in 1942, aged 24. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/d0158b15-5a00-4dca-b41f-5e8799aafa9e/1920+Bierzynski+Family+Enhanced+%26+Colorized.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Stephania Bierzynska and her husband Benjamin, Henry’s uncle Stephania would disappear on a visit to Warsaw in 1942, during which she would try to get food and money to her sister, who was in the Warsaw ghetto. Benjamin died of natural causes in 1941. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/168490b0-6d20-46e8-a5b4-9df99bb47701/henry+funeral+24.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Dr Henry Bierzynski 1979 Henry visiting his uncle and medical mentor in Melbourne. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/8c7370e4-f64b-48f2-b279-6d8fe639fa90/henry+funeral+17.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Harry Gayst and family 1970s Harry was lucky to be able to emigrate to Australia in 1939. His family including his sister Hela all perished in Chelmno. L to R standing Henry and Stephen Gayst seated Carolyn, Linny, Harry and his wife Doris. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/7959e7b7-70ec-41f1-a470-0ba5e4ec4e66/IMG_2764+%281%29.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Henry Stecki and wife Zosia 1979 Henry and Zosia lived in Sczeczen Poland, pictured here in 1979. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/664f3faa-2cd9-430b-8ddd-a1c8dd79f3b1/IMG_1443.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Survivor’s day out. L to R Hella ( Ignacy’s wife), Harry Gayst, Henry, Evelyn, Doris Gayst and Ignacy enjoy a day on the water in Sydney in the early 1950s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/aa90d981-be33-45db-acd4-b4ae7f93d9bd/Scan+72.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Halina Bierzynska ne Aronson b. 18 December 1920 m. 21 November 1942 d. 28 June 1945 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/8de5e263-d2a3-4978-aa1c-30a203d5c1be/P8180123_1.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Make it stand out The Memorial at the site of the Extermination Camp at Chelmno The inscription reads; “We were all taken, from an old man to a baby, to between the towns of Kolo and Dabie. We were taken to the forest and there we were gassed and shot and burned .. So please let our future brothers punish our murderers. Our friends who live in this area, we ask once again to spread word of this murder all over the world …" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/0c446fe6-9beb-46ef-a7f9-5d06fe4870e3/IMG_9057.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Natalia Bierzynska and her baby Eve 1950 Henry’s uncle Dr Henry Bierzynski married Natalia Jumanska, who was an Auschwitz survivor. They had one child, Eve, being carried by her mother, who now lives in Melbourne Australia. This picture is on display in Yad Vesham in Israel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/92822cbf-6c33-47ab-bb63-567054d7aef3/1988+Annie%27s+Wedding001.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Eve Bierzynski Tony and Henry with Eve, daughter of Henry’s uncle Dr Henry Bierzynski, catching up on Sydney harbour in the early 1980s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/6d70057b-d698-4cfd-971c-4ff09ea3c216/1927+Family+Photo+enhanced+and+colorized+%284%29.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Isador Stecki, Henry’s cousin Isador and his wife and child lived with false ID outside the ghetto near Katowice. After seeing his wife and child killed by the Gestapo Isador handed himself in to the Gestapo and has never been seen again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/6465c556-6b24-4638-a03d-66c80d761abc/1927+Henry%2C+Regina+%26+Jan+Bierzynski.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Regina Bierzynska, Dr Henry Bierznski’s first wife Regina was arrested in the summer of 1941 along with her mother-in-law Berta, staying with her husband, her two teenage children and other Jewish people outside the ghetto in a house in the Bedkowska valley near Krakow, where they had lived since the outbreak of the war. She and Berta were shot by police and buried in a mass grave. After the war Dr Henry opened the grave and reburied his wife’s body, recognising her blonde hair. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/b9fb59cb-2787-46a3-bfa4-102e4e04ac61/IMG_2763.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Halina’s sister Roma and mother Zosia Henry and Linny visiting Roma and Zosia in Wellington New Zealand in the 1970s. Henry is standing next to Ernst Hermann , Roma’s husband. Seated L to R Roma, Linny and Zosia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/d6bb77a7-2580-482f-914c-7523d6b35cc9/henry+funeral+22.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Dora Winikoff Henry and her husband Boris early 1970s Dora Gayst was the niece of Henry’s mother. Dora was fortunate to be able to emigrate to Australia in 1937. She has one daughter Tamara who lives in Sydney. Her father Max and sister Halina died in Chelmno. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/c8746b8e-57e7-4e49-be04-df234fb3e2d9/BERNARD+-+The+Ghost+Tattoo+Cover+WEB.jpeg Victims & Survivors - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ce435d6bea1ed00016ba287/1558964652247-5MWXNMFZVOPGE4TY6U2Q/MHeiderich_ReflexionenZwei-05-copy.jpg Victims & Survivors https://www.tonybernard.com.au/life-in-sydney daily 0.75 2024-05-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/00c36bb7-2afa-4171-858e-5b39a17b6c23/DSC02046.jpeg Life in Sydney - Henry meets Evelyn at Sarah’s seventh birthday Evelyn attended Sarah’s seventh birthday in October 2010 meeting Henry for the first time in 45 years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/e6ff0e5e-97c7-4038-8a1a-eaf00a2bf3f0/henry+funeral+19.jpeg Life in Sydney - Canoeing on Narrabeen Lake https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1b9e5039-6f32-4100-ba36-44db5303aa24/Henry+Crown+Styreet+1951.jpeg Life in Sydney - Medical Registrar Crown Street Hospital 1955 Henry trained for a year as an obstetrician at Crown Street before moving to general practice in Narrabeen in 1956. He retained an interest in obstetrics, was on the obstetric roster at Mona Vale Hospital delivering over a thousand babies over the years until 1979. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/22570b1b-cb91-491d-86da-baa8a42828be/henry+funeral+11.jpeg Life in Sydney - Henry in his new Volvo which he bought using compensation money from Germany in 1974. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/5580c5eb-ef27-423b-ae4d-403113ef9a61/DSCN0865+%282%29.jpeg Life in Sydney - Henry and Tony 2006 Visiting Sydney University for Henry’s life membership of the AMA. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/86ee5bb5-2d7d-40c9-a0b2-9e9d3a7362dc/henry+funeral+16.jpeg Life in Sydney - Feeding Tristan and Shah 1970s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/1b5ca016-f132-4fa0-af8b-6d9440e43d13/IMG_0760.jpeg Life in Sydney - Anti-semitic graffiti, Poland 1997 Henry was deeply affected by ongoing anti-Semitism in Poland https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/5eaef58c-9bdb-41ad-8cab-f794087405c2/DSC00897.jpeg Life in Sydney - Sarah, Tony, Henry, Linny and Jen Henry and Linny celebrating grand-daughter Sarah’s first birthday, October 2004. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/358ec0ef-88e5-40a8-83aa-16d3f6610d9e/henry+funeral+63.jpg Life in Sydney - Henry cooking at his BBQ in Narrabeen Henry loved having friends and family over for a BBQ. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/531bb8e5-ea0f-4c44-970e-efff2c1cd8dc/HENRY++101.jpg Life in Sydney - Family Photo Narrabeen 1982 Henry and Linny (back row) Nick, Tony and Ignacy ( middle row) Annie Bierzynski and Fiona ( Front row) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/5072e4b0-80ab-444c-9b30-3e08e70c6d03/henry+funeral+32.jpg Life in Sydney - Henry at his desk in his practice in Narrabeen This is how Henry’s patients would have seen Henry when consulting him as a patient. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/b5ab9958-6868-425d-8705-14ec73f77d42/IMG_4080.jpg Life in Sydney - Kombi Campervan West Berlin 1979 The orange Kombi campervan in the caravan park in West Berlin on the trip to Poland. Note the camping spot is on a section of old roadway blocked off by the Berlin Wall in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/f9c9824d-e60e-45e9-a9ad-7d98532638c0/IMG_2670.jpg Life in Sydney - Anti-Semitic graffiti Gdańsk 2001 Henry could not understand the ongoing anti-Semitism in Poland considering that almost all the Jewish population had been either murdered or emigrated and there were hardly any Jews left in Poland. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/800ef9f4-5ce7-42d2-978c-7f76f00b20a2/henry+funeral+1.jpeg Life in Sydney - Henry with Nick and Tony, late 1960s Henry having fun with Nick and Tony in the backyard of his Narrabeen home. In the background is the white ‘flat’ , the small cabin in which his housekeepers would live and where he confronted the intruder firing his rifle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/d4c77908-746f-4a0e-b898-e62b8616d1ec/henry+funeral+5+%281%29.jpeg Life in Sydney - Having fun riding Fiona’s bike in the 60s Henry tried to live as normal and enjoyable life as possible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/aa8112a9-a54c-49d2-925d-a26beb12321d/DSCN0867.JPG Life in Sydney - Henry awarded life membership of the Australian Medical Association 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/36e658fb-5e27-4f3c-ba57-250ccdf624a2/IMG_0851.jpeg Life in Sydney - Henry’s 90th Birthday December 2010 Henry and all the Bierzynski family descendants in Australia at his birthday celebration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/6c91ff6d-0abe-4fec-bc27-40fb01b7cbd0/nwdn_file_temp_1612475160657.jpeg Life in Sydney - Family Dinner Narrabeen 1957 Evelyn, Marysia, Dr Henry Bierzynski, friend, Hella, Ignacy and his son Leslie. Uncle Dr Henry Bierzynski was visiting Henry in Narrabeen on a visit prior to emigrating with his family to Australia in 1959. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/79ea16ce-7617-46f4-85bc-8cd506e6631a/henry+funeral+20.jpg Life in Sydney - Henry’s practice in Narrabeen The path to Henry’s medical practice under his home on Pittwater Road Narrabeen, now opposite the Tramshed Cafe. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/0a32bf78-3f32-424d-9302-d1c0941dd265/IMG_2643.jpeg Life in Sydney - Volgograd (Stalingrad) 2001 Henry, standing on top of Mamayev Kurgan, the dominating hill overlooking the city and Volga river during his trip to Russia in 2001 with Tony. Germany’s defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad in February 1942 was the turning point in the war after which Henry knew Hitler would lose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/50b52396-678e-4ecc-ad47-a9c1d133a6a3/henry+funeral+54.jpeg Life in Sydney - With his new puppy Pasha https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/c8746b8e-57e7-4e49-be04-df234fb3e2d9/BERNARD+-+The+Ghost+Tattoo+Cover+WEB.jpeg Life in Sydney - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ce435d6bea1ed00016ba287/1558964652247-5MWXNMFZVOPGE4TY6U2Q/MHeiderich_ReflexionenZwei-05-copy.jpg Life in Sydney https://www.tonybernard.com.au/darmstadt-war-crimes-trial daily 0.75 2022-05-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61ff4e6b675afb1c554ec4ec/e21de554-44c2-4c3e-8fa8-2017db30ecc5/IMG_8855.jpeg Darmstadt War Crimes Trial - Make it stand out On 8 and 9 July 1970 Henry took the stand in the Darmstadt District Court to give evidence against Georg Boettig, Benjamin Fuchs and Johann Reichl for murders that they had committed as Nazi police in the Tomaszow ghetto in 1942. Below are audio extracts from Henry’s testimony, given in English with a German translator, including his evidence which convicted Georg Boettig of the murder of Dr Hirschsprung.