Henry Reiss

Title: January 1944: A Saga of Survival
Author: Henry Reiss
Publisher: Reiss family
Place of publication: Sydney
Year of Publication: 1991
Location of Book: Rare Books Collection, Sir Louis Matheson Library, Monash University Clayton Campus
Cities/town/camps: Poland: Cracow, Lwow, Oserdow, Belz, Warsaw, Skierniewice, Legionowo, Hungary: Budapest, Kadarkut, Kaposvar, Baja, Taszar, Czechoslovakia: Mniszek
Note: those cities/towns/camps underlined are those which are most central to the narrative

January 1944 is the story of the survival of Henry Reiss, a Polish Jew, during the years of the Second World War, along with his wife and young daughter. Reiss began writing about his experiences in a displaced persons’ camp in Germany in 1946, but put the project aside for years after immigrating to Australia. After the death of his wife, he resumed writing. The Polish version of his book was published in 1988; it was published in English in 1991. In addition to 397 pages of narrative, the book contains a section at the back in which a collection of documents can be found. The book is divided into seven parts: Part One (pages 1-70) describes Reiss’s life before the war in Poland. Part Two (71-114) tells of life under Soviet occupation in Lwow, eastern Poland. In Part Three (115-154), Reiss relates his experiences as a Jew under German rule. Part Four (155-240) describes Reiss’s experiences pretending to be a Pole. In Part Five (241-296), Reiss relates his experiences after he, his wife and his daughter flee to Hungary in January 1944. Part Six (297-368) tells of life after liberation in Soviet-controlled Hungary. Finally, Part Seven (369-397) tells of Reiss’s life after the war, including his emigration to Australia and subsequent trips back to Europe.

Henry Reiss was born in Cracow in 1907. The book describes at length his upbringing in an assimilated Jewish family in Poland. During his youth, Reiss’s family move from place to place, but he ultimately settles in Cracow after graduating from university and marrying his wife, Lusia in 1934. Reiss studies at the Polytechnic, where he encounters anti-Semitism, at times violent in nature. As a youngster, he is involved in the Zionist youth movement, Hashomer Hatza’ir, but he does not remain a Zionist activist, though he continues to be sympathetic to the cause.

When Germany invades Poland in September, 1939, Henry and Lusia Reiss decide to leave Cracow for their country property in Oserdow, near Belz. Their baby daughter, Elzunia, had already been sent there as a precaution. As they make their way there, German planes fire machine guns at the crowds of fleeing refugees. They soon realise that Oserdow is also not safe, and so they relocate to Lwow, now under Soviet rule.

Life in Lwow is initially almost untouched by war, but this soon changes. ‘Capitalists’ and ‘Fascists’ are periodically taken in night arrests by the Soviets, and people live in fear of informers. In June 1941, the Germans invade eastern Poland and enter Lwow. Violence against Jews increases, as do legal restrictions. Jews are no longer permitted in public toilets, parks, theatres or on public transport and they must wear an armband in public, or be punished with death. In October 1941, a ghetto is established, and soon Henry and Lusia move in, selling all of their belongings in order to survive from day to day. It is at this point that a letter from a friend who had been in Belzec confirms for them their fears about the fate of Polish Jewry.

Henry and Lusia manage to obtain false Aryan papers, and after the deportation of their families in the Aktion of August 1942, they escape—as Poles—to Cracow, and then Warsaw. Henry manages, with the help of an ex-teacher, Mr Poniz, to find work as an engineering liaison between Poles and Germans, as he can speak German. He continues with this work until late 1943. During this time, Lusia lives with Henry’s boss’s mother in Legionowo, and he visits her on weekends. Living as Poles, they are constantly in fear of being recognised or informed on. Henry describes the difficulty of hiding his emotions upon hearing of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and seeing, from a distance, the ghetto burning.

Several times, the Reiss’ cover is nearly blown. In January 1944, they decide to escape to Hungary, where they hope to find safety. Upon arrival, they are initially blown away by the normality of life there, especially for Jews. Through the Polish Committee they obtain legal papers—still registered in their fictitious Polish names—and move to a Polish camp in Kadarkut. Despite underlying anti-Semitism, they are happy with their haven, until the arrival of the Germans. When the Jewish armband is introduced, Henry tries, at a ‘town meeting’, to convince local Jews not to wear it and to attempt to obtain papers identifying them as non-Jews. He describes what he knows of the fate of Polish Jews. The local Jews refuse to believe that such things could happen to them. Speakers suggest that ‘the Germans are not barbarians’ and that the Polish Jews brought about their own fate by disobeying German orders. Soon, the Jews of Kadarkut are deported. The Reiss family and some friends of theirs are able to stay because of their ‘non-Jewish’ papers and by getting a substitute to appear at a ‘physical examination’ of males, conducted to locate Jews. They soon relocate to Kapsovar, where Henry again finds work as an engineer.

On December 1, 1944, the Russians arrive and the war is over for the Reiss family as Jews. The Russians move into Hungary, raping and pillaging; they have little sympathy for the Hungarians, who had initially allied themselves with Hitler’s Germany. Nevertheless, life returns to some semblance of normality, and Henry and Lusia accustom themselves to living under Soviet rule until June 1946, when they manage to leave Hungary for a displaced persons’ camp in Germany, ultimately making their way to Australia.

January 1944 is an eloquent account of Henry Reiss’s experience. The memoir retells his story in thorough detail; unusual for memoirs published late in life, this was no doubt made possible by Henry’s initial writings in the years of the immediate aftermath of the war, when memories were still fresh. The book contains much thoughtful analysis and reflection. Henry discusses both his suffering and trauma on the one hand, and the surreal sensation of knowing, at times, that things were good for him whilst others were suffering horribly. A thoughtful, eloquent, detailed account, January 1944 provides inside into an unusual story of survival.