NYPL, Letters To Sala

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Introduction Sala’s Europe, 1939-1945 Prewar Jewish Life and Deportation Nazi Slave Labor Camps The Judenrat Geppersdorf Nazi Postal System Ala Gertner Sala's Labor Camps Jewish Holidays Harry Haubenstock Schatzlar Liberation In America

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Postcard to Sala Garncarz, in German, Sosnowitz, Poland, May 13, 1941

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Raizel Garncarz
Postcard to Sala Garncarz, in German, Sosnowitz, Poland, May 13, 1941
NYPL, Dorot Jewish Division, Sala Garncarz Kischner Collection

Wartime life was a financial struggle for the Garncarz family. In principle, the Judenrat (Jewish Council) paid salaries to workers in labor camps, but it was never clear how much Sala was supposed to earn. At Geppersdorf, Sala volunteered to be the camp seamstress. Lacking equipment, the Nazis commandeered the sewing machine of a local German family, the Pachtas. Sala repaired German uniforms in their home and developed a close relationship with the family. Ever thankful to anyone who helped Sala, Raizel here sends her “best regards to the Pachta family.”