Holocaust Tattoos Indelibly Link Fellow Survivors

Boys who stood side by side in Auschwitz meet again in Israel

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 19, 2009 2:03 PM CDT

(Newser) – Menachem Sholowicz and Anshel Sieradzki don't remember crossing paths briefly in 1944, at perhaps the defining moment of their lives, but the ink on their arms leaves no doubt. Serial numbers the Nazis tattooed on each man's arm at Auschwitz are consecutive—Sholowicz is B-14594 and Sieradzki is B-14595. "I rolled up my sleeve and sure enough—I stood exactly ahead of him in line at Auschwitz," says Sholowicz.

The pair's life stories are as similar as their tattoos, something they only realized when meeting again this year in Israel. And though the tattoos are permanent reminders of a painful time, their interactions have been surprisingly joyful. Seeing that familiar serial number "was a moment of great emotion, great excitement," says Sholowicz. "We went through it all together. We are like two parallel lines that never met."

[Images (3)]

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In this Jan. 17, 2005 file photo, railway tracks lead to the former Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, southern Poland. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)

This file picture of 1956 shows the WWII war criminal Josef Mengele. The two men who reunited in Israel were both selected by Mengele as fit to work in Auschwitz, and thus avoided the gas chambers. (AP Photo, file)

Auschwitz survivor Mr. Leon Greenman, prison number 98288, displays his number tattoo on December 9, 2004 at the Jewish Museum in London, England. (Getty Images)

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The moment I meet someone who was there with me, who went through what I went through, who saw what I saw, who felt what I felt—at that moment we are brothers. - Anshel Sieradzk, 81, on meeting the man who was tattooed just before him

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 3 comments

mak

Apr 21, 2009 2:56 AM CDT

be that as it may, or may not be, i don't see any bloody shirts waving in this article. but maybe i have to put on my special angry american glasses to see it. you know, you're right. i bet the holocaust never even happened. this article wasn't about israel, it was about two people who went through a terrible experience together and lived to find each other afterward. now i know the milk of human kindness seems to be running a bit thin in your veins, but can't you see that as a positive thing?

mak

Apr 20, 2009 11:08 AM CDT

how about you shut the fuck up and crawl back under your rock? or are you worried that those nasty, terrible jews stole it? oh, poor baby. maybe you can bitch to your brothers in the white hoods. i'm sure they'd back you up. or even better, tell it to the hitler tattoo you have on your mangy white ass.

mak

Apr 20, 2009 2:24 AM CDT

i agree with nutsinny (hi, nuts, i don't know if you remember me, you called me a fuckwad last week. hope you're well). there's no bitching here-they said the reunion was surprisingly joyful. and sure, there's always someone who suffered more, but does that negate everyone else's hurt? i know, how about you go to a concentration camp and starve and lose your family and face extermination. then how about you don't bitch about that?

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Holocaust Tattoos Indelibly Link Fellow Survivors