Simon Braitman
A story of survival in the Holocaust
From the Beginning
Simon was born on March 16, 1930; in Maciejowice, Poland. He stayed there until 1933.
Garbatka
In 1933, Simon moved to Garbatka with his family. They stayed in this town until 1939, when the Nazis first invaded Poland.
Nazi Occupation
The Nazis established a ghetto in Garbatka in 1941. Simon and his family remained there until the ghetto was liquidated in July 1942. One week before the ghetto was liquidated, Simon recalls Nazi stormtroopers invading Garbatka and murdering 76 older people. All able-bodied men who were sixteen or older were taken to Auschwitz. Due to Simon's young age, he was not taken from the ghetto. When the ghetto was liquidated, Simon and his family were marched to the Zwolen ghetto.
Survival
After arriving in the Zwolen ghetto, Simon's mother dressed him in riding boots and pants so he would look older. There was a powder factory in the nearby town of Pionki that needed workers, and Simon was selected to work in this factory. Within a week of him taking work in the factory, all the other remaining Jews in Zwolen were taken to Treblinka and were killed. This was when Simon's mother, sister, and brother were taken and killed.
Auschwitz
Simon continued to work in the powder factory until it was dismantled in 1944. After the factory closed, Simon was taken to Auschwitz along with the other workers. He recalls getting his number tattooed there before being sent to the Sosnowitz ammunitions factory to continue working there.
From one Factory to Another
Simon continued to work in the ammunitions factory until January 1945. As the Russian military front was advancing towards the area, the Nazis began to march the prisoners of the camps in order to try killing them this way under the guise of relocation away from the advancing front.
The Last Camps
After the march, Simon and the other workers from the ammunitions factory found themselves in Mauthausen camp. Simon's stay was not very long here, however.
Liberation
Upon arrival to Mauthausen, Simon was immediately taken to Gunzkirchen, where he stayed until his liberation on May 5, 1945 by the United States Army's 71st division. After being liberated, Simon was first taken to a hospital, then to a displaced person's camp. While at this camp, Simon recalled hearing a familiar voice at the gate asking to stay there- and that voice belonged to his father.
After Liberation
After reuniting with his father, uncle, and 2 of his mother's sisters, Simon and his family realized that they would not be safe to continue living in Poland. Instead, they decided to cross the border and settled in Stuttgart. The family stayed there together until later in 1945.
Relocation
In the fall of 1945, Simon was sent to a school located outside of Heidelberg that was sponsored by the United Nations Relief Agency. It was there that Simon first met Bill Konar.
Rochester
After meeting Bill Konar, Simon eventually immigrated to Rochester with his family. He graduated from both Franklin High School and the Rochester Institute of Technology, and served in the Korean War. He first worked for Bausch and Lomb for nine years, before going on to co-found Simcona Electronics Corporation.
Below is a drone flight over Auschwitz, showing what remained at the time.
Information about Sosnowitz, one of the labor camps that Simon was in.
Arbeitslager Sosnowitz II | Sub Camps of Auschwitz
Information about Mauthausen, one of the last camps Simon was marched to.
Simcona Electronics, the company that Simon co-founded, is still running today, and has its headquarters located on Mt. Read Boulevard in Rochester, NY.
Simcona | Industrial Electronics - Distribution & Manufacturing
After Simon co-founded Simcona, he stayed with the company until selling the company to his co-founder's son in 1998. Throughout his time in Rochester, he dedicated a lot of his time to sharing his story of surviving the Holocaust in the community. Through him and his family, the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project at MCC has had the incredible opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. every year, where the focus is primarily on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. We are extremely grateful to Simon and his family for allowing us this opportunity to learn more about the Holocaust in this way to better accomplish our goals of educating and commemorating.
Simon's mausoleum, located in Boynton Beach, Florida. Photo provided by Josephine Braitman.
Later in his life, Simon would retire to Florida along with his wife, Josephine. They would live in Florida in the winters, while staying in Irondequoit during the rest of the year. Simon passed away on March 2nd, 2021, at the age of 90, after a long battle with illness in his Florida home. Simon is buried in the Eternal Light Memorial Gardens, in Boynton Beach, Florida.
A special thanks to the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project at Monroe Community College, for providing a written version of Simon's testimony and his portrait, from the Project's library. Thanks also to Professors Jon Little and Wayne Howard for their assistance and guidance in making this project a reality.
Thanks also to Josephine Braitman, for providing the photo of Simon's mausoleum seen above, and providing information about where Simon is buried.
The Meeting Workforce Needs for Skilled Geospatial Technicians through Virtual Geospatial Information Science Technology Education project was funded through the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Advanced Technological Education under Grants Award # 1955256 to Monroe Community College. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
