Holocaust Survivor Testimonies

Ursula Levy


Ursula Levy, born May 11, 1935, in Germany, had what would be one of the most traumatic childhood experiences. At a young age her father and uncle were taken away and died in a concentration camp. In 1940, her mother, sent Ursula and Jorge, her brother, to Holland to stay at a home for Jewish children where they might be safe but never to see her again. They were transferred to a convent in Eersel Holland for malnourished children where they lived for 4 years. “There was nothing to eat.” She states, “If people had bread and butter they were lucky.” In 1943 she and her brother were taken to a concentration camp by the Nazis. On her birthday that year, she received a wonderful gift. They were given better treatment thanks to a lie told by Mr. Vanmacklenburgh, who had taken a liking to the two at the Eersel convent. He said they were actually the children of a Catholic father in the U.S. It was because of this man they survived. In 1944, they were sent to Westerburgh, where they were treated with a little less status. They became malnourished. Dead bodies in the street became a common sight for Ursula. In April 1945, Ursula and Jorge were put on a train to go to a death camp. For 13 days they were trapped with no food or water. Until one morning she woke up when someone was screaming, “We are free!” The Russians had liberated the train and the Jews on board. They went back to live at the convent in Eersel where they found out that their mother had died of typhus around the same time as their liberation. “I had never really mourned the loss of my parents and that was the worst of the experience.” Ursula stated, even though later it caused her to have to seek professional help to cope with it. In 1947 she and her brother went to live with her aunt and uncle in Chicago where she changed her name to Muhler by her aunt’s request, as it was a Catholic name and would make their life easier. She went to Catholic school, but was always confused about her religion. At age 40, she converted back to Judaism. After all that has happened, she says she does not hate the German people, and if her people sought revenge, the string of violence would just continue. She is happy to be part of a group of people who can educate their children and grandchildren who will learn from their experiences so this hatred can stop.
Quotes: “There was nothing to eat. If people had bread and butter they were lucky.”
“I had never really mourned the loss of my parents and that was the worst of the experience.”


Joseph Morton

Born in 1924 in Lodz Poland, Joseph Morton is the oldest of six siblings. He lived in an all Jewish neighborhood until the Germans came and took over two days after the war started in 1939. Since it was an all Jewish neighborhood, it was made into a ghetto. His father was a soldier in the Polish army so Joseph provided for the family. It wasn’t long until he, his brother, and cousin were forced to work for the Germans. The whole ghetto was told to come to a flea market where three men were hung as a warning to all who opposed the Germans. They were forced to wear a band with a yellow star so it was obvious who the Jews were. The Germans would come into the ghetto and pick up people to take them away. “They would grab people and take them away, we didn’t know where. Some of them were tortured.” Joseph stated. Schools were shut down and people were forced out of their homes and into the ghettos in 1940. “This is when the problems started.” Joseph says. “You were always living in fear.” People were constantly taken and there was a lack of food. There was no escape. “Once you were in the ghetto, you were there to die.” Joseph was reunited with his father in 1940. He helped the family get through this time. In September 1944 the ghetto was shut down and the whole family was loaded into a wagon with fifty or more other people. They were taken to a death camp where Joseph, his father, brother, and cousin were split from the rest of the family. They were forced to go to work at other camps for the Germans. At this time his religious faith was roughly shaken. They were tortured every day before work, and forced to live in dirty lice infested barracks. The camp was shut down due to typhus, with Joseph being one of the sick who was sent to a sick camp and separated from his family. It wasn’t long after that the American army found the camp and liberated it. Joseph was taken to a hospital and nursed back to health where he was reunited with his father, brother, and cousin. Joseph’s mother and other siblings did not make it out of the death camp. Joseph and his brother left for Montreal, Canada in 1948 and their father went to America. Joseph, although a victim of a horrible tragedy, holds no grudges. He claims it was luck which saved him, but it seems as though it was his family bonds that kept him going. He now has a family of his own but is still a little shaken with nightmares every once in a while. He encourages future generations to live life to its fullest.

Quotes: “They would grab people and take them away, we didn’t know where. Some of them were tortured.”
“Once you were in the ghetto, you were there to die.”