Conrad Weiner had his life saved not once, but twice, by family members who refused to give up on him even as they were deported and imprisoned in the worst conditions the Nazis could engineer. The resilience of his loved ones lives on today, through his message that we cannot become indifferent to one another’s suffering.
“I…don’t particularly like to call myself a survivor, because I’m really a child that survived because of my mother’s efforts.” — Conrad on the resilience and extraordinary care shown by his mother, Ada
Conrad was born in Storojinetz, a small town in Bucovina, once part of Romania (currently part of Ukraine) in 1938. After a brief occupation of the region by the Soviet Army, in 1941, Romanian authorities, in alliance with German forces, started a massive campaign of annihilation and deportation of Jews to Transnistria. They were taken by cattle car, a journey of two days and one night, and then made to walk for two weeks in snow and mud to the forced labor camp, Budy – a subcamp of Auschwitz. Conrad was 3 1/2 years old.
During the forced march, Conrad’s uncle Oscar saw that his nephew would not be able to keep up with the convoy. If Conrad had fallen behind, it would have likely resulted in death. Oscar alternated carrying Conrad and one of Conrad’s cousins, to ensure neither got left behind.
When they arrived at Budy, Conrad became very ill. His mother, Ada, scraped together what she could to nurse her young son back to health while they were in the camp.
He and his mother survived 4 years before they were liberated. He says it was a process to learn what it meant to live as a free person for the first time.
Conrad eventually immigrated to the United States and earned an undergraduate and a Master’s degree. He met and married his wife, Cindy, and raised a family. After his retirement, Conrad worked as a substitute teacher. It was in the classroom one day when he encountered a student who had little knowledge of the Holocaust. He decided to start telling his story and has inspired listeners ever since.
This episode is part of the Cynthia & Harold Guttman Family Center for Storytelling. Subscribe here https://www.youtube.com/@holocaustandhumanity
Our gratitude to Margaret & Michael Valentine for their ongoing support of this series.
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Episode Resources
Inquire about booking Conrad or another speaker for your class or group
https://www.holocaustandhumanity.org/programs-and-events/book-a-speaker-coppel-speakers-bureau/
Learn more about the sub camp of Auschwitz that Conrad and his mother survived
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/budy-an-auschwitz-subcamp
More information on the area where Conrad and his family were from and what its people experienced during the Holocaust
https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/communities/balti/transnistria.asp
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/transnistria-governorate
