Record Groups
Metadata
Collection |
Carol Shapiro Papers |
Object Name |
Collection |
Catalog Number |
RG-77 |
Dates of Creation |
1939-2018 |
Extent of Description |
0.3 linear feet (1 box) |
Admin/Biographical History |
Carol Shapiro was born Karolina Siegel in Jaroslav, Poland on October 30, 1927. In 1939, Germany invaded Poland and the country was divided into two zones, Soviet and German, under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Jaroslav was in the German zone. Later, the Siegels were expelled from Jaroslav and marched into the Soviet zone where they stayed with relatives. In Lvov, the Soviets required all of the Jewish people to register with local officials. About a year later, they were rounded up and loaded on cattle trains to a gulag near the Ural Mountains. Carol and her younger brother, Mendek, attended school while the rest of the family worked. While there, Carol's sister, Hela, received permission to return to Lvov and married Josef Singer. It is believed the two were executed in Lvov in 1944. In 1942, the Polish prisoners were released, but they had to remain in the Soviet Union. They were put on a train to Bukhara, Uzbekistan. When war broke out between the Soviet Union and Germany, it became harder to get food and without good nourishment, epidemics broke out. Carol's parents, Naftali and Regina Siegel passed from dysentery within three weeks of each other, and Carol and her brothers were placed in an Uzbek orphanage until the war ended in 1945. There were orders to send the Polish children back to Poland where they stayed in Warsaw with an aunt located by the Red Cross. In 1946, Carol met her husband Ralph Shapiro who had recently travelled to Poland from the Soviet Union. Ralph had served in the Soviet Army during the war. The Polish men in the army were not trusted and were sent to Vladivostok near Japan. Ralph's family had been executed in their hometown of Wlodzimierz as the Germans retreated. They eventually got papers to travel to Paris in 1949 and in 1952, they immigrated to the United States. |
Copyrights |
No restriction on use. |
Language of Material |
English |
Scope & Content |
The Carol Shapiro Papers provide information on Carol's experiences as a Polish Jew during World War II. These papers include biographical materials, photographs, articles, and claims applications regarding Carol's deportation to a Soviet Gulag and Uzbekistan before being released back to Poland. Folder 1 contains biographical information on Carol, including interview summaries and speeches given by Carol. Folder 2 contains Carol's claim applications for her own immediate family as well as her husband's. Folder 3 houses several prints of photographs and one recent photograph of Carol. A copy of the Jaroslav Memorial Book which tells of the history of the Jaroslav community is found in Folder 4. The book is incomplete. The remainder is written in Polish and Hebrew according to a note. Finally, Folder 5 contains articles about events Carol has spoken at regarding her experiences. |
Subjects |
Jaroslav, Poland Lvov, Poland Bukhara, Uzbekistan Warsaw, Poland Wlodzimierz, Poland Vladivostok, Soviet Union Paris, France Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact |
Oral History |
Carol Shapiro |