Itzhak Cytrynowski

Title: And I will remember my Covenant
Author: Itzhak Cytrynowski
Publisher: Self Published
Place of publication: Melbourne
Year of Publication: 1988
Location of Book: Makor Jewish Community Library, Melbourne Jewish Community Library, Melbourne
Cities/town/camps: Lodz, Radom, Auschwitz, Wechelde
Note: those cities/towns/camps underlined are those which are most central to the narrative

Cytrynowski presents an autobiography detailing his childhood to 1948 when he left Poland for Australia. Part one deals in 200 pages with his upbringing in Lodz. Part two describes his life during German occupation, 180 pages in the Lodz ghetto, 30 pages in Auschwitz and Wechelde labour camps, 30 pages detailing liberation and his return home. Cytrynowski wrote his account partly to provide evidence for those who believe the Holocaust a myth, but primarily to answer his children’s questions, with whom he found it difficult to communicate his experiences. It was translated from Yiddish into English by Abraham Cykiert and published in 1988 by Avi Cytrynowski.

Cytrynowski describes his childhood in pre-war Lodz, from Cheder to Yeshiva school, where he was a gifted Talmudic scholar, delighting his parents. Financial strife thrust him into the workforce, and eventually he worked in the family run knitting business. Much of his account details the strict orthodoxy of his Hasidic upbringing, and the inner battles he waged with himself and with God, trying to remain true to his beliefs, while the world around him became increasingly secular, progressive and anti-semitic. These battles became more significant when his younger brothers fled their strictly orthodox household and left Europe before the war. Cytrynowski was deeply troubled by these departures.

In part two he describes in great detail the scenes of thousands fleeing Lodz as news of German occupation spread. He stayed with his family, however, and witnessed the destruction of the great industrial city of Lodz, once teeming with Jewish heritage and culture. Just three days after occupation, the great synagogue was destroyed and their persecution began. In April 1940, the Lodz ghetto was established and Cytrynowski’s life centred on securing adequate fuel and food. He struggles to provide for his starving family; grave digging, gardening and unloading vegetables to survive. Meanwhile, his thoughts were dictated by his Hasidic beliefs. Bad luck was a punishment from God for a failure to adhere to the teachings of the sages, good luck, a blessing. In 1942, his parents were transported to their death at Chelmno, and seeing no hope for his family, he volunteered to leave Lodz in 1944.

He then describes the horror of the train trip to Auschwitz that many did not survive. Upon arrival at Auschwitz he barely had time to say goodbye to his remaining family as they separated into two lines for the infamous selections. Cytrynowski then describes the amazing circumstances that allowed him to survive. Ordered to go left by the Nazis examining him he instead went to the right, escaping the gas chambers. He spent two weeks in the hell of Auschwitz until he was moved to Wechelde labour camp where he was reduced to the savagery that was camp life, in order to survive.

Liberated in March 1945, Cytrynowski returned to Lodz and was reunited with his cousin. He remarried in 1946 and decided to move to Australia. He still struggles to find an explanation for why God would put his chosen people through such torment, and indeed the title, And I will Remember My Covenant, is a scriptural reference to this.