Abram Czapnik / Abe Chapnick (M / Poland, 1930-2016), Holocaust survivor

USHMM Collection -- Group portrait portrait of Jewish children against a backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. The children are residents of the Le Vésinet children's home, sponsored by the OSE (Oeuvre de secours aux Enfants). Pictured in the front from left to right are Joseph Fachler, Abe Chapnick and Herchel Unger. In the middle row are Leon Friedman, Salek Sandowski and Romek Wajsman. Standing behind is Marek Lozinski (b. Lodz, 1927)

Abram Czapnik / Abe Chapnick (M / Poland, 1930-2016), Holocaust survivor.

• KEYWORDS : <Poland> <Lodz Ghetto> <Buchenwald> <Block 8> <Liberation of Buchenwald> / <Canadian Orphans>

Biography

Abe Chapnick was born in Lodz, Poland in 1930. He survived the Lodz Ghetto, and forced labor before he ended up in Buchenwald. There, he was in a barrack with another boy of his age, Romek Wajsman (b.1930), who became his closest friend. The political organization at Buchenwald was able to protect them and - as they discovered only after liberation - many other children at the camp.

Liberation of Buchenwald

Abe was one the youngest child Holocaust survivors at Buchenwald:

• USHMM Collections -- Among those pictured are first row (left to right): Lolek Blum, David Perlmutter, Birenbaum, Joseph Schleifstein, unidentified, and Yisrael Meir Lau (middle row, far right). Middle row: Natan Szwarc, Jack Neeman, Berek Silber, Jakub Finkelstajn (Jacques Finkel), unidentified, Marek Milstein, and Salek Finkelstein. Back row: Elek Grinbaum [or Grinberg], Chaim Finkelstajn (Charles Finkel), Romek Wajsman (Wekselman), and Abe Chapnick. The boys are dressed in outfits made from German uniforms due to a clothing shortage.

OSE Orphanage, France

Abe appears in a picture at the Ecouis children's home (around June 1945):

• Among those pictured are Zysio Abramovicz, Abram Czapnik, Albert Dymant, Joseph Fachler, Léon Frydman, Moritz Freilich, Idek Goldmann, Lejzor Grunberg, Israel Grojsman, Jakob Kapelusz, Mayer Kilsztok, Léon Lewkowicz, and Hersch Unger. USHMM Collections.

Abe (and Romek) spent some time in France at the OSE orphanage. Abe then moved to the United States, where he lived his entire life. Romek instead moved from France to Canada.