Henry Borenstein
Author: Henry Borenstein
Publisher: Makor Jewish Community Library
Place of publication: Caulfield South, VIC.
Year of Publication: 2008
Cities/towns/camps: Poland: Warsaw, Warsaw ghetto, Rembertow ghetto, Stanislawow, Dobre, Lentownica, Grudziac, Swidnica; Australia: Melbourne.
Note: those cities/towns/camps underlined are those which are most central to the narrative
Genre: Memoir
Key events/experiences: child/adolescent survivor; ghetto; false identity; Red army soldier.
All Alone is the story of Henry Borenstein who, at thirteen years of age, escaped the Warsaw ghetto during the height of Nazi deportations to Treblinka. He survived the war in the Polish countryside, passing as a Catholic, only resuming his Jewish identity when he joined the Russian army at the age of fifteen.
Pages 1-15 describe the author’s upbringing in Warsaw. Pages 16-38 discuss the period from 1939-1942, Henry’s time in the Warsaw ghetto and his eventual escape. Pages 35-67 describe his time hiding in the Polish countryside under a Catholic identity. Pages 68-78 recount Henry’s time in the Russian army during the last year of the war. Pages 79-111 cover his time in Poland after the war and eventual migration to Australia in 1964. The book includes twenty-nine photographs and three poems written by the author.
Henry Borenstein was born in Warsaw on 14 February 1929, the only child of Rosa and Mojzesz Borenstein. On 7 September 1939, when the Germans marched into Warsaw, Henry lived with his mother in an apartment on Nalewki St, which became part of the Warsaw ghetto. In November 1940 the ghetto was sealed. As his father was in the Rembertow ghetto, Henry would often sneak in and out of the ghetto to visit him. Henry was active in ‘organising’ efforts, stealing coal and selling cigarettes.
In July 1942, when Henry was thirteen, he was caught in an Aktion with his mother and aunt. As he was being marched to the Umschlagplatz Henry escaped and hid on a roof. He wandered the ghetto streets for several days, before escaping with the help of a Jewish policeman. He made his way to the Rembertow ghetto where he remained for a brief time until Rembertow was to be liquidated, when he again escaped. With no one to turn to, he made his way to the village of Stanislawow, looking for work and shelter with local farmers. Eventually he was taken in by Michael Santorek, a Polish farmer who gave him food and refuge in exchange for farm work. Henry observed their Catholic customs and, sensing he could trust Santorek, confessed his Jewish identity. Santorek promised to find him a false birth certificate, however, the Germans arrived to round up the town’s Jews and it became too risky. Instead, Santorek gave Henry his son’s grade-two school certificate enabling him to go by the name of Walenty Santorek.
After a week living with the Santoreks, Henry travelled to the village of Dobre due to a heavy German presence in Stanislawow. Again working for farmers, he stayed for two or three months. After running out of work, in November 1942 he travelled back to the city of Warsaw with false papers in hand. Banding together with a group of Polish orphans, Henry made his way to Malkinia via train and foot. After an argument with one of the group members, Henry ventured off on his own to the village of Lentownica where he was taken in by a farmer, Stanislaw Maka, in December 1942.
Henry lived in Maka’s barn, working on his farm and mimicking the Catholic customs he observed while with the Santoreks. Nonetheless, he was subject to scrutiny and the local German gendarme arrived to question him under suspicion that he might be Jewish. Luckily, Henry passed their questions. During his time in Lentownica, Henry maintained constant vigilance, fearing his Jewish identity would be discovered. He paid close attention to the Catholic customs exhibited in the Maka household and among the local Polish boys he befriended, even going to confession on Easter in 1943. In June 1944, he went to live on the Chimoch farm which provided a better view of the terrain. In September 1944, Lentownica was liberated by the Russian army.
Fearing the town might be recaptured, Henry travelled eastward where he encountered the NKVD. He revealed his Jewish identity and was sent for interrogation. The officer in charge, Captain Michael Gubaraow, was himself a Jew from Kiev and he recruited Henry into the Russian army. At fifteen, Henry resumed his Jewish identity. At the end of 1944, he travelled West to the Polish city of Grudziac with a Russian supply unit under the charge of Captain Gubaraow. Henry fought in the Russian offensive in January 1945. By August 1945, when only 100 kilometres from Berlin, his unit was diverted back to Poland. Henry remained in the army until 1947. After leaving the army, he moved to Swidnica in Western Poland, where he stayed until 1964. Many years after the war he returned to Stanislawow to discover that Michael Santorek had been shot by the Germans in 1943.
Longing to leave Poland, but without a plan or destination, he got in contact with the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society (HIAS) with the help of a friend who suggested that he emigrate to Australia. The HIAS organised Henry’s permit and travel to Australia. In 1964, Henry boarded a ship to Sydney, but ultimately, chose to stay in Melbourne where he worked at a printing studio. The following year, he met his future wife, Helene. The couple were married in 1971 and had two sons.
All Alone was written as part of the Makor Jewish Community Library’s “Write Your Story” program, under the editorial assistance of Adele Hulse. It is a brief, straightforward account, written chronologically in a stream-of-consciousness style. Recalling the author’s youth, the memoir focuses on noteworthy people and perilous incidents in his life.