Abraham Bomba – prisoner T2

Abraham Bomba was born on June 9, 1913 in Bytom (Ger. Beuthen). In the following years, his family moved to Częstochowa, and he started working as a hairdresser. On September 25, 1942, he and his family were transported to the Treblinka II Extermination Camp. The trip, in a crowded cattle wagon, took 24 hours. In the camp Abraham was selected to the prisoner work team. The rest of his family died in the gas chambers. Initially he was assigned to sorting of clothes and stolen property. After a few weeks, he was sent to “the hair cutters” commando, where he cut the hair of the women victims before they entered the gas chambers. Bomba recalled one day when his friend, also working as a hairdresser in Treblinka, was forced to shave his wife and sister’s hair.

In January 1943, Abraham Bomba, along with two other prisoners, escaped from the Treblinka II Extermination Camp. He managed to return to Częstochowa, where the so-called “Small Ghetto” was still functioning. In June 1943, the Germans finally liquidated the Jewish district in Częstochowa. Those who managed to survive were imprisoned in the plants of the German concern HASAG. There, Bomba lived to see the liberation. After the war, Abraham, together with his previously married second wife Regina, finally emigrated to the USA. The marriage had a daughter, Bonnie.

Abraham Bomba testified twice at trials against members of the Treblinka II Extermination Camp staff. First, he testified as a witness in the prosecution against Josef Hirtreiter (Frankfurt am Main, 1951), and in the 1960s his testimony contributed to the conviction of – among others – Kurt Franz, the last camp commandant of Treblinka II (the trial in Düsseldorf in 1964-1965).

Source: Echoes and Reflections. A Multimedia Curriculum on the Holocaust.

A.S

Translation: P.M