Arthur Spindler

Title: Outwitting Hitler, surviving Stalin
Author: Arthur Spindler
Publisher: University of New South Wales Press
Place of publication: New South Wales
Year of Publication: 1997
Location of Book: Sir Louis Matheson Library, Monash University Clayton Campus
Cities/town/camps: Poland: Belezec, Krakow, Konskie, Tarnow, Warsaw, Russia: Golovka, Lidievka
Note: those cities/towns/camps underlined are those which are most central to the narrative

This book documents the life of Arthur Spindler, a Polish Jew who survived World War II by obtaining false papers and posing as a Pole. The first 33 pages of the book tell of Spindler’s family and of his life in his hometown, Tarnow, until his escape to Warsaw in 1940; 29 pages describe Spindler’s life in Warsaw and then Konskie, working as a wheat controller at a railway station; 40 pages deal with the years in which Spindler was involved in the Polish underground movement; the final 42 pages tell of liberation and Spindler’s subsequent arrest and imprisonment by the Russians, ending with his reunion almost three years later with his wife and their emigration to Australia. Published by the University of New South Wales Press in 1997, the book was written late in Spindler’s life, with the encouragement of friends and family members, and the assistance of an oral historian who helped to counter-check Spindler’s facts.

Spindler, born in 1917, describes the life he and his family led in Tarnow before the onset of war. His family were not religiously observant in their own home, although outwardly they observed many of the norms of their community. Anti-Semitism was common in their town even before the war, and Spindler’s father was an avowed Zionist who hoped one day to immigrate to Palestine with his family and to live in a place where Jews could be free from persecution. To that end, Spindler’s father insisted that he learn to be an electrician, a trade that he thought would help his son find useful work in Palestine. Spindler’s father never did make it to Palestine, but the trade ended up saving his son’s life.

When the German occupation began in Tarnow, Spindler and his family were forced to move into the newly created Jewish ghetto. Conditions were very harsh, but because of his training as an electrician, Spindler found himself useful to the Germans. In an incredible stroke of luck, the Germans hired him to work on electrical wiring for various buildings that they had requisitioned. Not only was he paid enough money to feed his family, he also managed to convince the Germans to hire additional Jews to help him with his work.

In June 1940, deportations from Tarnow began. Later in the same year, Spindler and his wife Margalith, through connections in Warsaw, managed to secure false papers identifying them both as Poles. That October, they left Tarnow and made their way to Warsaw. Masquerading as Christian Poles, Spindler and his wife managed to live a relatively secure existence in Warsaw, until one day the real owner of Spindler’s false papers arrived at his door. Soon after, the couple relocated to Konskie, where Spindler was able to continue the work he had been doing as a wheat controller at a railway station in Warsaw. In his new position in Konskie, Spindler improved conditions for his Polish workers, and became a respected figure.

One day, two armed members of the Polish underground arrived in Spindler’s office to demand a ton of wheat. To their surprise, Spindler offered to deliver them five times that amount, and soon after, he was invited to join the underground. During his time as a member of the Polish underground movement, Spindler participated in many successful attacks on the Germans, and eventually became an officer. During his time in the underground, he did not reveal his identity as a Jew; his compatriots in the underground were also anti-Semitic.

In January 1945, the Russians liberated Konskie, and Spindler initially believed his troubles to be over. Unfortunately, he was soon arrested by the Russians for being a member of the Polish underground, and he was forced to spend nearly three years in a Russian labour camp as a political prisoner. Finally, in late 1947, as part of a political agreement between Poland and Russia, Spindler, together with other political prisoners, was freed and was able to return to his wife in Poland. Soon after, the two made arrangements to immigrate to Australia.

Throughout this amazing story of survival, Spindler comes across as a thoughtful man who is willing to risk his life for others, especially his family and fellow countrymen. His confidence and ability to adapt to changing situations, as well as his good fortune, saved his life. In this compelling memoir, one finds a story of survival different from others in many ways, and yet so similar in its accounts of suffering, loss, tragedy and hope.