Zeitzeuge

or a witness to the darkest time in German history.

In 2005, the United Nations declared 27 January International Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz.

In addition to the official commemoration in Freiburg, the Jewish community scheduled a particularly moving event at the New Synagogue's auditorium on 2 February, the following Sunday.

Chairwoman Irina Katz of Freiburg's Jewish Community
explains the microphone to Christoph Heubner.
Paul Sobol sits on the left, with the interpreter in the middle.

They had invited a passeur de mémoire, Paul Sobol, a memory keeper. As a survivor of Auschwitz, he spoke about his life before, during, and after in his native French. Mrs. Katz wrote, "There were between 220 and 250 people in the New Synagogue. There have never been so many people at the synagogue since it opened in 1987. Important: There were many young people - pupils and students."

While Mrs. Katz wanted to start the event,
a man approached, presenting some gifts to Paul.

Paul Sobol was born in Paris on 26 June 1926 to working-class Jewish parents who had immigrated from Poland to France. In 1928, his father, a tanner, took the family to Brussels, so young Paul received his schooling in Belgium and quickly assimilated into the Belgian population. Following the German occupation, Jews had to register and were forced to wear the Star of David. The family went underground.

Stolperstein placed in front of the house
 where Paul was arrested

On 13 June 1944, the hideout was denounced to the Gestapo, and the family was arrested. They were part of the last convoy deported from Belgium in the direction of Auschwitz. Paul remembers, "There were about a hundred people crammed into one railroad car. We didn't know how long the trip would take. Finally, we had to stay in the wagon for six days. By the time they opened the doors, only 20 or 25 people had survived in my wagon."

At the infamous ramp at Auschwitz, the family was selektiert (separated); "You know, I didn't get to hug my mother goodbye." She was murdered in the gas chambers immediately upon arrival.

At the camp, Paul and his father worked as carpenters. In 1944, as the Red Army approached, Paul was forced to march westward on a Todesmarsch. Finally, following many more life-threatening situations, at the age of 19 and alone, Paul was released on 1 May 1945 by the US Army.

His parents and his younger brother never came back.

It wasn't until many years later that Paul wrote a testimony book: Je me souviens d'Auschwitz (I remember Auschwitz).

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