Julian Noga (Poland – Austria – USA)
Julian’s parents, Polish Catholics, emigrated to the USA before World War I. However, his mother soon returned to Poland, where Julian was born in a village near Tarnów. He grew up on a small four-acre farm in Skrzynka, which his mother ran alone—his father remained in America.
From the age of sixteen, Julian lived independently, working as a dishwasher in a popular Jewish club in Tarnów. When the German invasion began in September 1939, he returned home and learned of the tragedy—twenty-seven Jewish acquaintances had been shot, after being forced to dig their own graves.
Soon, Julian found a rifle left behind by Polish soldiers in the forest and hid it. But someone reported him to the authorities, and he was deported to Austria to work for a wealthy landowner near Linz.
Between 1940 and 1944, Julian fell in love with his employer’s daughter, Frieda. She reciprocated his feelings, despite the strict Nazi laws prohibiting relationships between Poles and Germans. When the girl’s father found out about the romance, he sent Frieda to another farm, but the young people continued to meet in secret.
After being reported, Julian was arrested and warned: “If you see Frida again, you will be hanged.” Despite the threats, they did not end their relationship until Julian was arrested again on September 19, 1941. He was imprisoned and then sent to the Flossenbürg concentration camp, where he worked in a quarry.
On April 23, 1945, Julian was liberated during a death march. After the war, he reunited with Frida—they married and emigrated to the United States.
Lucyna Horn (Poland)
Lucyna was born into a Jewish family in Lublin. Her father was a court interpreter and her mother was a dentist. With the outbreak of war on September 1, 1939, their lives changed dramatically: the Germans ransacked their home, and soon all Jews in Lublin were ordered to wear distinctive signs.
In January 1942, the Lublin ghetto was completely isolated. In the spring of that year, mass deportations and exterminations of residents began. Lucina managed to survive because she had a work card that gave her temporary protection. She was transferred to a new ghetto, Majdan Tatarski, located near the Majdanek death camp.
In November 1942, Lucina managed to escape from there; shortly thereafter, the ghetto was liquidated. After reaching Warsaw, she first lived in the Warsaw ghetto, and after its destruction, she hid on the “Aryan” side of the city, fleeing from the Nazis.
Niels Bamberger (Denmark – Sweden – Denmark)
Niels grew up in a religious Jewish family. In 1932, his parents moved from Germany to Denmark and settled in Copenhagen, where his father opened an antique shop.
When Germany occupied Denmark in April 1940, the family’s life remained almost unchanged until 1943. Then the Danish resistance warned the Jews about the impending roundups. Niels and his family decided to flee.
With the help of members of the underground, they made their way to the fishing village of Snækkersten, where they boarded a boat and crossed over to Sweden. There they found refuge and survived the war. In May 1945, after Denmark was liberated, Niels returned to his homeland.
