Bluma Polonski was born in March 1930 and raised in Wolanow, Poland [Annotator's Note: also spelled Volanov, Poland]. She had three brothers and two sisters, all of whom have died [Annotator's Note: by the time of the interview]. She attended school until third grade, when the Germans came and took all the Jewish people to concentration camps. Her mother and seven year old brother were sent to the gas chambers at Treblinka [Annotator's Note: Treblinka extermination camp in Treblinka, Poland]. She, her father, and her older sister were put in a concentration camp in Volanov, then sent to Starowice, Poland and finally to Auschwitz [Annotator's Note: Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp complex in German occupied Oswiecim, Poland] where she was tattooed with an identification number. Her father had been a butcher and made a good living in their small town. They had a beautiful life until the war broke out and the Germans separated them, and they never saw each other again. Polonski was about ten years old at the time. The Poles did not like them, and thought the Jews should move to Palestine. Polonski was doing schooling at home when the Germans came, and they announced in the streets that they would find all of the Jewish people. They took many of them to the death chambers at Treblinka by train. There was nothing they could do but pray to God. Polonski and her older sister hid while they could, but were eventually found and sent away with a group to Auschwitz by train. They were packed in like sardines, it was horrible. They were not given water. They were nearly dead by the time they arrived. The Germans were going to send Polonski to "the wrong side", destined for the gas chamber, but she had a stomach ache and had gone to the bathroom, getting mixed up with the "good side". They were then taken to the Sudetenland near Czechoslovakia [Annotator's Note: modern day Czech Republic or Czechia] and worked underground until they were liberated on 8 May 1945. The Germans took them to the woods to kill them, but did not have the chance. They were helped by the Allies and the Red Cross. They had no tears left to cry at that point. They were malnourished.

At Auschwitz [Annotator's Note: Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp complex in German occupied Oswiecim, Poland], Bluma Polonski was made to work cutting trees and bushes that would be used to make cement. Every day some people were taken away and killed. Her aunt and cousins were there with them, and were taken away and killed. Polonski has been married for 63 years [Annotator's Note: at the time of the interview]. Her daughter wanted to throw Polonski and her husband a wedding ceremony, but Polonski preferred to use that money to take her family to Poland. She met her husband in Germany before immigrating to the United States. She had no real childhood. She and her husband had two daughters and two sons. Her husband died in his sleep. Polonski has a doll collection. Her grandchild remarked that she was too old to have dolls, but she enjoys them because she did not have a childhood. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer shares a personal story.] She was in third grade when she was separated from her parents. Her three brothers were killed. One was killed in the gas chamber at Auschwitz, one was killed in Treblinka with their mother, and the third brother was shot and killed in their hometown Wolanow [Annotator's Note: Wolanow, Poland; also spelled Volanov, Poland]. Polonski saw when her brother was shot. His body was freezing cold and his tongue was sticking out.

Bluma Polonski does not find it hard to talk about her experience of the Holocaust [Annotator's Note: also called the Shoah; the genocide of European Jews during World War 2]. She gives talks to school children and at churches. The Red Cross helped them after they were liberated [Annotator's Note: from Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp complex in German occupied Oswiecim, Poland]. Polonski wanted to come to the United States. She immigrated and got married. She went to school to learn English. [Annotator's Note: A doorbell rings and there is a break in the interview.] They were happy and free. Her husband was an electrician and made a good living. They were able to send all four of their children to college.

Bluma Polonski remembers life in Auschwitz [Annotator's Note: Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp complex in German occupied Oswiecim, Poland]. They slept in barracks on straw. She could see and smell the fires from the crematorium. Every day someone would be brought to the gas chambers and destroyed. They had to stand in line in the cold and snow. They just prayed to God every day until they were liberated, after three or four years in the camp [Annotator's Note: Auschwitz was liberated 27 January 1945]. She saw a lot of death. Her teeth were all rotten by the time she was liberated. They had no health care while in the camp. Polonski visited Poland a few years ago. The Poles had not been so nice to Jews. Polonski gave a talk about her wartime story. A German man stood up and asked if she still hated Germans. She said no, but Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] was a devil who killed six million Jewish people. He is the biggest evil in history. What he did to people was horrible. Before they were liberated, the camp guards took them out of the camp. They saw a car coming, and thought it was SS [Annotator's Note: Schutzstaffel; German paramilitary organization; abbreviated SS], but they told them they were free. They were given bread and water and put into a hospital. Before liberation, they were only given bread and potato peels to eat. Polonski was selected for Mengele [Annotator's Note: SS-Hauptsturmführer, or Captain, Dr. Josef Mengele] who did experiments on the prisoners, but she was sent to the Sudetenland [Annotator’s Note: part of former Czechoslovakia] instead. She took everything day by day. She just turned 86 years old. Most children were killed in the gas chambers. The crematorium burned night a day, it never stopped. Polonski took her family to see Auschwitz. Life goes on. Her husband was in Treblinka [Annotator's Note: Treblinka extermination camp in Treblinka, Poland], but escaped from a train into the woods and survived with partisans. They had different experiences.

Bluma Polonski began talking about her experiences with schoolchildren in Omaha, Nebraska [Annotator's Note: where she lived after the war]. She did not want to scare the young children, so when they asked about her tattoo [Annotator's Note: prisoners in Auschwitz were given identifying tattoos during the Holocaust, also called the Shoah; the genocide of European Jews during World War 2], Polonski said it was her phone number. She has watched movies about the Holocaust, such as The Pianist and Schindler's List. The Nazis removed gold teeth from the prisoners. When she visited Auschwitz [Annotator's Note: Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp complex in German occupied Oswiecim, Poland] with her family, they brought candles and said prayers. While a prisoner in Auschwitz, they slept on straw on the ground. She had lice in her eyes. They were not given much to eat and made to work. Thinking about happy memories at home with her parents helped her get through. Polonski's children are affected by what she went through. Sometimes she had nightmares, but when she realizes that she is home in her bed she is okay.