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Letters to Sala

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This map illustrates the sequence and duration of Sala Garncarz’s imprisonment in seven Nazi labor camps from 1940 to 1945. Other places of significance to Sala’s story are also represented.

This map illustrates the sequence and duration of Sala Garncarz's imprisonment in seven Nazi labor camps from 1940 to 1945
Courtesy of Matthew A. Knutzen, Assistant Chief, The Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, and Kara Van Woerden, Senior Designer, NYPL Graphics Office


Geppersdorf [now Rzedziwojowice, Poland]: October 28, 1940–June 1942

Gross Sarne [now Sarny Wielkie, Poland]: June or July–August 1942

Brande [now Prady, Poland]: August 1942

Laurahutte [now Siemianowice Slaska, Poland]: August 1942

Gross Paniow [now Paniowy, Poland]: September–October 1942

Blechhammer [now Blachownia Slaska, Poland]: October–November 1942

Schatzlar [now Zacler, Czech Republic]: December 1942–May 8, 1945

Auschwitz: Death camp to which Sala’s parents, Chana and Joseph Garncarz, were sent in August 1942, and to which her mentor and friend, Ala Gertner, and Ala’s husband, Bernhard Holtz, were sent in August 1943

Dyhernfurth [now Brzeg Dolny, Poland]: Former Schmelt labor camp to which Sala’s boyfriend, Harry Haubenstock, was sent in December 1942

Neusalz [now Nowy Sol, Poland]: Schmelt labor camp to which Sala’s sisters Raizel and Blima Garncarz were sent in August 1942

Sosnowitz [now Sosnowiec, Poland]: Sala’s birthplace and home until her deportation in October 1940

Death camp to which most residents of Sosnowitz were deported, including Sala's parents, Chana and Joseph Garncarz, and her mentor and friend, Ala Gertner, and Ala's husband, Bernhard Holtz Site of beautiful Baroque synagogue where Sala observed her first Jewish New Year after liberation, September 1945, and where Sala met and married U.S. soldier Sidney Kirschner Bergen-Belsen: First major concentration camp liberated; in 1946, the largest Displaced Persons camp and gathering site for more than 11,000 Jews City where Sala and her boyfriend Harry Haubenstock promised to meet after the war Schmelt labor camp to which Sala’s sisters Raizel and Blima were sent Nazi labor camp associated with building the ReichsAutoBahn; the first of seven camps in which Sala was imprisoned Sala's last labor camp, liberated on May 8, 1945 Location of large ghetto during occupation; early headquarters of a regional Judenrat later incorporated into the Sosnowitz Judenrat Death camp to which most residents of Sosnowitz were deported, including Sala's parents, Chana and Joseph Garncarz, and her mentor and friend, Ala Gertner, and Ala's husband, Bernhard Holtz [now Rzedziwojowice, Poland]: October 28, 1940–June 1942 [now Sarny Wielkie, Poland]: June or July–August 1942 [now Prady, Poland]: August 1942 [now Siemianowice Slaska, Poland]: August 1942 [now Paniowy, Poland]: September–October 1942 [now Blachownia Slaska, Poland]: October–November 1942 [now Zacler, Czech Republic]: December 1942–May 8, 1945 [now Brzeg Dolny, Poland]: Former Schmelt labor camp to which Sala’s boyfriend, Harry Haubenstock, was sent in December 1942 Death camp to which Sala’s parents, Chana and Joseph Garncarz, were sent in August 1942, and to which her mentor and friend, Ala Gertner, and Ala’s husband, Bernhard Holtz, were sent in August 1943 [now Sosnowiec, Poland]: Sala’s birthplace and home until her deportation in October 1940 [now Nowy Sol, Poland]: Schmelt labor camp to which Sala’s sisters Raizel and Blima Garncarz were sent in August 1942