How did I survive? When a person is in trouble he wants to live. He fights for his life...Some people say, "Eh -- What will be, will be." No! You have to fight for yourself day by day. Some people did not care. They said, "I do not want to live. What is the difference? I don't give a damn." I was thinking day by day. I want to live. A person has to hold on to his own will, hold on to that to the last minute. - Solomon Radasky Solomon was from Warsaw, but lived in Praga. He used to make fur coats for a living. He says, "When it was a Jewish holiday everyone knew it was a holiday, the stores were closed, and everyone was at the synagogues." Out of 78 people in his family he was the only surviver. His parents had 3 boys and 3 girls. His mother and older sister were killed in the last week of January 1941. After he found out the his mother and older sister were killed, the Germans collected all their gold and fur coats. His mother said that she had none, so they shot his mother and his older sister right there on the spot. Solomon's father was shot in the back on April 1942.
When he was taken to go get his number tattooed on his arm he got the number "128232." When you add the numbers separate they add up to 18. In Hebrew, the letters stand for numbers. The letters that stand for 18 spell the Hebrew word "Chai," which means life. Solomon was first sent to the camp Buna.