Calia Mintzer: Holocaust Survivor

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Miranda Thomas 4-11-12 Period 7 Holocaust Survivor Holocaust survivor Calia Mintzer, now at a young 83, met a man at an event she went to, by the name of Manfred (Fred) Wolf. She asked him to dance and noticed a tattoo on his left forearm reading, “105064.” She knew just by the numbers and the placement of the tattoo that he was a Holocaust survivor and so she proceeded to ask him if he was, he then said “Why yes I am!” He noticed her necklace which had the Chai letter on it, in Hebrew means Jewish, he immediately knew she was Jewish, so asked if she was just to make sure, and she said, yes I am, and I advertise it also. So they began to share their stories about their experiences during the war and in the concentration camps. A little…show more content…
The town was full of wine makers and their very full vines of grapes, there was only about 1500 people that lived there and only two streets. It’s also located on the banks of a river in Germany called the Moselle River. An only child, Wolf was born to his parents, his dad Edward and his mom Ricka Wolf. They happened to be the only Jews in the village. Ed was rewarded an iron cross for bravery in World War One, because he was at this time a veteran, he owned a store where he sold clothing. On the first floor of their house, where he mainly sold handmaid men suits. During summer, Wolf would take a ferry across the nearby river and go swimming in the Moselle. He looked forward to it all year until he finally got the chance. His mom was always cautious every year and tie a rope around Wolf’s wrist and then would let him go into the water, he hated this! Go, go said dad, always encouraging him to do things, especially many different ways to protect himself. Fred liked going to the auto races and going to his dads bowling club. His dad taught him to hold on to things for a long time, and showed him what things do and how they work. He enjoyed riding over to the next town called Zell an der Mosel with his dad on bikes to attend synagogue services. Wolf said that when Hitler came into control in 1933, everybody in his neighborhood wanted to listen to their radios…show more content…
Wolf’s first horrific tragedy was when he was eleven. His mother, 35 and three months pregnant, was mostly a stay at home mom, his dad was out on the bike running some errands and Wolf was at school. His mom had caught her skirt on fire by getting to close to the stove. She was frantically searching for ways to put out the flames. She could not find anything so she ran outside. Alert neighbors ran to help, rolling her on the ground to distinguish the fire. One woman thought it to be a good idea to dowse the flames with cans of milk. When Wolf came home his mother was laying in bed with burnt skin, burnt hair, and wrapped only in a towel. She was soon to be transported to the
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