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Oskar Tojzner | Photos and Documents

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Oskar Tojzner 2014.

In the picture you can see Oskar on the left at the back, followed by his brothers Beitzalel and Aba. Jochewed is on the right. At the front are Chawa and parents Sonia and Moshe.

Oskar's maternal uncle Asher Kanat was a teacher in Beresznitza which was close to Dąbrowica where the family lived. It was a shtetl, a small town where a large part of the population were Jewish. Oskar's mother had many siblings: four sisters and three brothers. Two of the siblings emigrated to the USA at the start of the 1900s. Oskar recalls: "One of the uncles, Beitzalel, took this photo with him when he moved. It was given to me many years later by my cousin Evelyn."

The names of Oskar’s family members are listed in this document: parents Moshe and Sonia, younger brother Beitzalel, and sisters Jochewed and Chawa. The names are at the top in the first column with the family name Tojzner, with their years of birth in the second column. The page is part of an entire list drawn up by the authorities in Dąbrowica in 1942. It lists the town’s inhabitants by name, year of birth, occupation and marital status.

This certificate of release was handed over to Oskar by the camp chief. Its notes reveal that Oskar had been a good worker and that he had therefore been released a few months ahead of schedule. There is a photo of Oskar with a stamp on the back of the certificate. The text on the certificate reads: Certificate issued to Oskar Tojzner, born 1923, Dąbrowica. | Nationality: Jew, Soviet citizen. | Sentenced by Special Camp Court. To be placed in Work and Correctional Camp BP. | MVD [Ministry of the Interior] CCCP, 23 August 1950, accused according to paragraph 19-84. | Sentenced to 3 years. No previous convictions. | Released 8 March 1952. | Wishes to return to Rovno [alternative spellings: Równe, Rivne, ed.]

Nina, Michael, Sofia and Oskar in Legnica, Poland, in the beginning of the 1960s.