Simon Halbreich

Title: One day at a time Poland 1939-1945
Author: Simon Halbreich
Publisher: J. Jarvis
Place of publication: Sydney
Year of Publication: 1999
Location of Book: Rare Books Collection, Sir Louis Matheson Library, Monash University Clayton Campus
Cities/town/camps: Poland: Krakow, Warsaw, Plaszow, Jadzin, Zakopane
Note: those cities/towns/camps underlined are those which are most central to the narrative

‘One Day at a Time. recounts the wartime experiences of Simon Halbreich. Pages 1-23 portray Simon’s struggles under German occupation in Krakow. Pages 23-44 tell of his life disguised as an ‘Aryan’ in Warsaw and Jadzin, while pages 44-54 describe the remainder of the war years spent in Zakopane. In 1995, in preparation for his interview for the Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Foundation, Simon wrote down his wartime experiences for the first time, in Polish. The memoirs were then translated into English by Jadwiga Jarvis and published privately in Sydney in 1999.

In early 1941 Jews began to be expelled from Krakow – others were placed in a ghetto. Simon and his family were expelled while all their possessions were stolen by Polish policemen as they tried to leave. Simon later returned to the ghetto with his brother and mother. In May 1942 both his mother and brother were captured or killed in a large German roundup of Jews. Later that year in December Simon was taken from the ghetto to a concentration camp at Plaszow. In March 1943 Simon staged a daring escape by ripping off his Jewish insignia and simply walking out of the camp, pretending to be a Polish worker. With the help of his girlfriend Klara’s family, Simon managed to obtain Aryan identity papers. Simon then moved to Warsaw where he was fortunate to find good employment at a textile factory. Despite his Aryan appearance and papers, Simon lived under the constant threat of exposure.

When his true identity was exposed Simon left the factory. After staying in a wealthy part of town Simon managed to get himself invited to stay on the estate of a wealthy Pole in Jadzin. Simon lived under the façade that he was the son of a Polish minister with aristocratic lineage. The myth surrounding his persona grew such that he was considered a secret and important member of the resistance. Eventually, however, Simon thought his story to be wearing thin and abandoned the estate and went to live in Zakopane. Simon and Klara were adopted by kind Poles who treated them as members of their own family. Despite a number of close shaves, whereupon their true identities were almost discovered, Simon and Klara lived out the reminder of the German occuption in Zakopane until they were finally liberated in January 1945.

Written in a succint and matter of fact fashion, One Day at a Time is an engaging of daring escapes and close encounters with disaster.