Rena Finder (Poland, 1929), Holocaust survivor

Rena Finder (Poland, 1929) was a Holocaust survivor.

• KEYWORDS : <Poland> <Krakow Ghetto> <Schindler's List>

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Biography

By Rebecca Snyder, University of Michigan (April 2020)

Rena Finder was born in Krakow, Poland in 1929 and she is the only child to Moses and Rose Ferber. Moses was a successful businessman who owned a medical supply store until they had to turn it over in 1941. Rena often recalls wonderful childhood memories of traveling with her family and seeing her grandparents every day, because they lived right down the street. All in all, she lived a privileged childhood, grew up in a beautiful apartment and was very close with her family. She often remembers being very close with her mother and looking at her father in awe.

Rena’s father, Moses, was a friend of Marcel Goldberg, who was a key part of Schindler’s operation. Goldberg was responsible for compiling Schindler’s list, which saved many Jewish lives by employing them in Schindler’s factory. However, Goldberg was often known to sell spots on the list to the highest bidder, contributing to the unfair exploitation of Jews to make money.

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Moses used his connections and his wealth to get permits that allowed for their family to stay in Krakow, after many Jews had to leave. However, this only lasted until March of 1941 when the Ferber’s were moved to the ghetto. Here, the Gestapo arrested Rena’s father and the family never saw him again. Moses was taken to Auschwitz, where he eventually died, while Rena and her mother were eventually moved to the Plaszow work camp before working for Oskar Schindler.

Because of her father’s connections with Marcel Goldberg, Rena and her mother were able to work for Oskar Schindler at Emalia, an enamel kitchenware and ammunition factory. When describing this part of her story, Rena often states that Schindler often gave her hope in times in despair by giving the workers food, accommodations and no physical mistreatment. Schindler reminded Rena of her father by the way he carried himself, and this often gave her comfort when she was scared of what lied ahead. Rena and her mother worked at Schindler’s factory for six months, until 1944 when Schindler was ordered to shut down his factory. Following the shutdown, Schindler’s workers were planned to be sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, but Schindler was able to use his power and money to negotiate with the Nazis and relocate his factory to Brunnlitz, Czechoslovakia, therefore, saving the lives of his workers.

In May 1945, Brunnlitz was liberated by the Russians, and Rena and her mother moved to Bindermichel displaced person camp in Linz, Austria. Here, Rena met her husband and they were married in the camp in 1946. For their wedding, her mother made wine from raisins to celebrate and they were given a wedding band from a dentist who was going to use it for future fillings, but he instead gifted it to them. They felt so much celebration among their family and friends, who were all grateful to be alive and to see a young couple in love. Rena and her husband were both hopeful for the future and grateful to have survived the Holocaust, despite the uncertainty in the next steps of their lives. In the three years that followed, they continued to stay at the displaced person camp and Rena was nothing short of busy. She took a cosmetology class and got jobs as a light bulb tester and at a shoe factory, but she stopped working outside of the home when she became pregnant with their first child.

In 1948, Rena and her husband were able to get visas to travel to the United States after a friend’s uncle arranged work for Rena’s husband. They packed up their minimal belongings and traveled eight days to America. During this time, almost all of the eight hundred passengers got sick, but the boundless opportunity in America carried Rena and her husband through the journey. Rena’s mother stayed in Poland to find a man to remarry and then joined Rena in the United States ten years later.

Once in America, Rena and her husband built a beautiful life in Massachusetts with their three daughters. They created a similar childhood for their daughters that Rena experienced as a girl: they traveled frequently and had close relationships with each other. However, tragedy struck in 1990 when one of their daughters died from cancer. Although Rena had endured the tragedy of the Holocaust, to this day, she says that her daughter’s death was the greatest tragedy of her life.

After the movie, Schindler’s List, was released, Rena became a local celebrity and was interviewed by many schools and reporters. When she first saw the movie, she was impressed with how accurate it was, but because of its high level of accuracy, it was hard for her to watch because it took her back to the horrors that she had witnessed in the Holocaust. In 1997, Rena visited Schindler’s grave to remember her “father protector” that saved her life.

Today, Rena Finder lives as a survivor of the Holocaust and is vocal about her experience as one of Schindler’s workers, in order to promote the lessons learned from the Holocaust alive. She is dedicated to her family – her late husband, three daughters, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren – and to educating people about the Holocaust. Despite the many tragedies she has endured throughout her life, Rena keeps a positive outlook on her life and is grateful for her life experiences and family in her life. She looks at her children and grandchildren as a “testimony to the will of the human spirit to survive and thrive.” [Rebecca Snyder, University of Michigan, May 2020)