Hi,
As you probably knew Nathan, my younger brother, was part of the IDF program – Witnesses in Uniforms (“Edim BeMadim”) in which IDF officers are visiting Poland to learn and remember the Holocaust. You probably show is Facebook posts (if you didn’t understand them because they are in Hebrew, I can only tell you that they were very heart touching 
).
Most of our family visited Poland, around the age of 17, as part of the Scouts missions. We all knew more or less the family history:
Aba of Aba was in Auschwitz III, You can read his story here.
Ima of Aba run away across the Russian border.
Aba of Ima joined the Russian army as an unlicensed assistive personal.
Ima of Ima was in Auschwitz II – Birkenau.
Now, when Nathan was getting ready to get there, he started to explore the family history and apparently we didn’t know much about it. Some things we thought we knew were wrong, and other had no prove. So we learned a lot from it. I will tell you about My Ima of my Ima (my grandmother from my mother side) that passed away about 14 years ago. As I said – we knew she was in Auschwitz II – Birkenau concentration camp. She still have a sister that lives in Australia, and Ima interviewed about WWII, but we didn’t really knew what grandmother passed since they were seperated.
With the help of the archive of Yad Vashem, we managed to find out documents saying were she been during the war. With that information we could draw a map (see below):
She was born in Sosnowiec in Poland in 2.11.1925
– During the war she was in Auscwitz concentration camp, and in Lichtenwerden a sub-camp of Auscwitz in north Czechoslovakia. Her arm number was 67913.
– Later she was moved to Ravensbruck concentration camp. in north of Germany.
– From which she was moved to Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.
– After the were she was in displaced persons camps in Germany: Landsberg, Leipheim, Eschwege.
– She than join the Hashomer Hatzair group that was organized to help Holocaust survivors to immigrate to Israel.
That’s it, cold information. I still remember I went to interview her for my school project. We sat down in the small kitchen, and she was shaken during the all time, trying to hold herself from crying. I couldn’t find my interview with her. So many stories had gone with her… why does an Holocaust survivors decide to adopt a German shepherd dog? The same kind the Nazis used to as guarding dogs in concentration camp?
Take Care
Gad
A map of the places grandmother have been at during the war
Document made by the people of the archive of International finding Service, with the places grandmother had been at during the war.
Documents of grandmother from the displaced persons camp in Germany after the war.
IDF officers are singing the Israeli anthem, the Tikva (=Hope), around the pile of ashes and remains of cremated victims in the Mausoleum of Maidanek concentration camp.