Regina Goodman
Holocaust Survivor
Warsaw, Poland and Russia
Holocaust Survivor
Warsaw, Poland and Russia
Regina Goodman is a Holocaust survivor, and her story of survival follows a path that is less popularized than those survivors who endured the concentration camps. She and her family were refugees fleeing the antisemitic wave sweeping Europe. They endured the hardships of cold winters, little food, only the bare essentials of life and no country they could call their own. When World War II ended the fighting ended but the antisemitism did not. Their hardship continued for several more years until she ultimately married and became a U.S. citizen.
Regina Buterwasser was born in 1934 in urban Warsaw, Poland. She lived with her older brother, Albert, and her parents Michoel and Elka. “We lived in an apartment building. It was like New York”. Michoel’s family had lived in Warsaw for several generations and Elka’s family came from a small town in Poland, Novaminsk. Michoel worked in a factory. Regina believes it was a leather tannery. Elka was a homemaker.
On September 1, 1939 the Nazi Wehrmacht stormed across the border and World War II began. Michoel immediately joined the Polish army, but it would prove to be too little, too late. The Wehrmacht rolled through the Polish army and the Luftwaffe quickly destroyed the Polish air force and by early October Poland had surrendered. Michoel was wounded near the Latvian border and for a while Elka didn’t know what became of him.
Daily life quickly changed for the people of Poland, in particular its Jewish residents. Regina recalled antisemitism before the invasion but after the Nazi occupation antisemitism swept across the country. Regina recalls Jewish men being dragged into the streets where the Nazi’s cut their beards and peyots. Jewish homes were often looted with no ramifications and eventually they were forced to live in Ghettos. “Everything was bombed. We had nowhere to live.” Regina remembers hiding with her extended family in the basement of an apartment building. One day the mothers took the children to use an outhouse and when they came back a bomb had hit the building, and her uncle was killed.
Elka rented a wagon with a driver, loaded the family and all of their possessions they could carry and headed to Regina’s maternal grandparents. “They took my grandfather out to the marketplace and the Germans cut his beard”. Elka received word that Micheol was in a Russian hospital. She loaded five-year-old Regina, 11-year-old Albert and all of their worldly possessions on a horse drawn cart and headed to Russia. Regina recalls the trip to Russia was very long. “My mother hid the money in between the slices of bread in the sandwiches she made”. It was winter when they arrived at the Russian border. Regina recalled walking across a frozen river to get into Russia. Her father was eventually released from the hospital and joined the family living with the other Jewish refugees.
The family was eventually sent to Siberia. The family endured another long train trip. “At every station they stopped and for the children there was white bread.” Regina believes they settled near the Mongolian border. In Siberia the men were put to work and her father was given a job moving food in warehouses. Her mother worked in the canteen. The living conditions were terrible, and Regina recalled she and her brother contracted typhus. Regina also recalled they had no access to radio or news. The children went to school and went to the movies for entertainment.
In 1944 her family was told to leave Siberia, and they were sent to the Ukraine which was controlled by the Russians at that time. Regina recalled making the trip by train. In 1945 her sister Sylvia was born. At the time World War II ended the Jews who had survived the Holocaust found themselves without a country. None of the European countries wanted the Jews and her family was again relocated to Poland near the Germany border. “Right away the Pogroms start again. A Jew could not go in the street, after the war. That’s why the (Jewish) people run to Germany”.
Elka did not want Regina and Albert exposed to antisemitism, and she sent them to Berlin where they lived on a kibbutz. Regina recalled travelling to Berlin by Red Cross ambulance. After the war had ended the Soviets blocked access to the sectors of Berlin controlled by the U.S. creating a food shortage. The kibbutz moved the children to Leipzig, Germany where there was a camp for children and more access to food. Her family learned of her whereabouts and her father went to search for them. They were reunited and the family relocated deeper into Germany, near Stuttgart.
Regina recalled that her faither didn’t have a regular job. He made a living selling cigarettes on the black market. He purchased cigarettes from the American soldiers, and he then sold them to the German citizens. She recalled her father opening up the cigarettes and adding cotton to them. The tobacco he saved was used to make additional cigarettes. “One cigarette makes three.” “He used to stand on the corner and sell it” to the Germans. Regina also recalled the American soldiers selling pots and pans to her father which he then sold to the local Jewish population.
After four years her brother enlisted in the Israeli army. “He was very good with steel, so he was fixing the tanks”. In 1949 the family emigrated to Israel. While Albert was in the army he met Regina’s future husband, Abraham. When Albert left the army, he went to Paris where he met his wife. Albert called and asked someone from the family to come to the wedding. Elka sent Regina because she would soon be required to serve in the Israeli army. Elka felt the family had done enough through Albert’s service
While in Paris, she met Abraham. Abraham was Hungarian, and remarkably he, his mother and six siblings all survived internment at Bergen-Belsen. Today Abraham’s sister lives in Borough Park section of Brooklyn in New York.
At the time, Abraham made a living sewing sweaters in Paris. Regina and Abraham met at the wedding and “when he saw me he didn’t let me go back. I only came for the wedding, and I wanted to go back, but he didn’t let me. He said to my brother, ‘I am marrying her’. I was 17.” The couple was married in May 1954 and settled in Paris. They eventually moved to larger apartment where Abraham started his own company sewing sweaters. “He bought one machine and then another machine and then we had a whole shop”.
Abraham’s sister came to the United States, and he and Regina followed in her tracks in 1961. Regina recalled coming by boat and being greeted in New York City by representatives of the Jewish Federation. The Federation helped them settle in Newark, which had a large Jewish population at that time. Abraham landed a job making sweaters.
The living conditions in Newark soon deteriorated and the couple relocated to the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, in New York City. Brooklyn was where the garment factories were located. In 1963 Regina became a U.S. citizen. One of the questions she was asked as part of her naturalization was, what would happen if the President died in office. She knew that the Vice President would become President because President Kennedy had just been assassinated.
Abraham found a job making leather coats. He had never made a coat, and he was unfamiliar with the process. Luckily for him he met a Hungarian woman who helped him learn the assembly process. The couple eventually moved to the Borough Park section of Brooklyn where they bought a house that they lived in for 50 years. Abraham built his own company making and selling linen products.
Regina and Abraham were married for 67 years and had five children and are blessed with many, many grandchildren and great grandchildren. “We don’t count. It’s bad luck”.
They had a son who was killed in a car accident at the age of 9 in 1964
Regina and Abraham survived the horrors of the Holocaust and post war Europe. They eventually were able to come to the United States and enjoy freedom and prosperity and build a family. The American dream came true for the Goodmans.
Regina Buterwasser was born in 1934 in urban Warsaw, Poland. She lived with her older brother, Albert, and her parents Michoel and Elka. “We lived in an apartment building. It was like New York”. Michoel’s family had lived in Warsaw for several generations and Elka’s family came from a small town in Poland, Novaminsk. Michoel worked in a factory. Regina believes it was a leather tannery. Elka was a homemaker.
On September 1, 1939 the Nazi Wehrmacht stormed across the border and World War II began. Michoel immediately joined the Polish army, but it would prove to be too little, too late. The Wehrmacht rolled through the Polish army and the Luftwaffe quickly destroyed the Polish air force and by early October Poland had surrendered. Michoel was wounded near the Latvian border and for a while Elka didn’t know what became of him.
Daily life quickly changed for the people of Poland, in particular its Jewish residents. Regina recalled antisemitism before the invasion but after the Nazi occupation antisemitism swept across the country. Regina recalls Jewish men being dragged into the streets where the Nazi’s cut their beards and peyots. Jewish homes were often looted with no ramifications and eventually they were forced to live in Ghettos. “Everything was bombed. We had nowhere to live.” Regina remembers hiding with her extended family in the basement of an apartment building. One day the mothers took the children to use an outhouse and when they came back a bomb had hit the building, and her uncle was killed.
Elka rented a wagon with a driver, loaded the family and all of their possessions they could carry and headed to Regina’s maternal grandparents. “They took my grandfather out to the marketplace and the Germans cut his beard”. Elka received word that Micheol was in a Russian hospital. She loaded five-year-old Regina, 11-year-old Albert and all of their worldly possessions on a horse drawn cart and headed to Russia. Regina recalls the trip to Russia was very long. “My mother hid the money in between the slices of bread in the sandwiches she made”. It was winter when they arrived at the Russian border. Regina recalled walking across a frozen river to get into Russia. Her father was eventually released from the hospital and joined the family living with the other Jewish refugees.
The family was eventually sent to Siberia. The family endured another long train trip. “At every station they stopped and for the children there was white bread.” Regina believes they settled near the Mongolian border. In Siberia the men were put to work and her father was given a job moving food in warehouses. Her mother worked in the canteen. The living conditions were terrible, and Regina recalled she and her brother contracted typhus. Regina also recalled they had no access to radio or news. The children went to school and went to the movies for entertainment.
In 1944 her family was told to leave Siberia, and they were sent to the Ukraine which was controlled by the Russians at that time. Regina recalled making the trip by train. In 1945 her sister Sylvia was born. At the time World War II ended the Jews who had survived the Holocaust found themselves without a country. None of the European countries wanted the Jews and her family was again relocated to Poland near the Germany border. “Right away the Pogroms start again. A Jew could not go in the street, after the war. That’s why the (Jewish) people run to Germany”.
Elka did not want Regina and Albert exposed to antisemitism, and she sent them to Berlin where they lived on a kibbutz. Regina recalled travelling to Berlin by Red Cross ambulance. After the war had ended the Soviets blocked access to the sectors of Berlin controlled by the U.S. creating a food shortage. The kibbutz moved the children to Leipzig, Germany where there was a camp for children and more access to food. Her family learned of her whereabouts and her father went to search for them. They were reunited and the family relocated deeper into Germany, near Stuttgart.
Regina recalled that her faither didn’t have a regular job. He made a living selling cigarettes on the black market. He purchased cigarettes from the American soldiers, and he then sold them to the German citizens. She recalled her father opening up the cigarettes and adding cotton to them. The tobacco he saved was used to make additional cigarettes. “One cigarette makes three.” “He used to stand on the corner and sell it” to the Germans. Regina also recalled the American soldiers selling pots and pans to her father which he then sold to the local Jewish population.
After four years her brother enlisted in the Israeli army. “He was very good with steel, so he was fixing the tanks”. In 1949 the family emigrated to Israel. While Albert was in the army he met Regina’s future husband, Abraham. When Albert left the army, he went to Paris where he met his wife. Albert called and asked someone from the family to come to the wedding. Elka sent Regina because she would soon be required to serve in the Israeli army. Elka felt the family had done enough through Albert’s service
While in Paris, she met Abraham. Abraham was Hungarian, and remarkably he, his mother and six siblings all survived internment at Bergen-Belsen. Today Abraham’s sister lives in Borough Park section of Brooklyn in New York.
At the time, Abraham made a living sewing sweaters in Paris. Regina and Abraham met at the wedding and “when he saw me he didn’t let me go back. I only came for the wedding, and I wanted to go back, but he didn’t let me. He said to my brother, ‘I am marrying her’. I was 17.” The couple was married in May 1954 and settled in Paris. They eventually moved to larger apartment where Abraham started his own company sewing sweaters. “He bought one machine and then another machine and then we had a whole shop”.
Abraham’s sister came to the United States, and he and Regina followed in her tracks in 1961. Regina recalled coming by boat and being greeted in New York City by representatives of the Jewish Federation. The Federation helped them settle in Newark, which had a large Jewish population at that time. Abraham landed a job making sweaters.
The living conditions in Newark soon deteriorated and the couple relocated to the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, in New York City. Brooklyn was where the garment factories were located. In 1963 Regina became a U.S. citizen. One of the questions she was asked as part of her naturalization was, what would happen if the President died in office. She knew that the Vice President would become President because President Kennedy had just been assassinated.
Abraham found a job making leather coats. He had never made a coat, and he was unfamiliar with the process. Luckily for him he met a Hungarian woman who helped him learn the assembly process. The couple eventually moved to the Borough Park section of Brooklyn where they bought a house that they lived in for 50 years. Abraham built his own company making and selling linen products.
Regina and Abraham were married for 67 years and had five children and are blessed with many, many grandchildren and great grandchildren. “We don’t count. It’s bad luck”.
They had a son who was killed in a car accident at the age of 9 in 1964
Regina and Abraham survived the horrors of the Holocaust and post war Europe. They eventually were able to come to the United States and enjoy freedom and prosperity and build a family. The American dream came true for the Goodmans.