Michael Opas Oral History
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Dublin Core
Title
Michael Opas Oral History
Description
An interview with Michael Opas, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Paul H. Draznan. Michael Opas was born in Lódz, Poland in 1910. In his youth, he learned the furrier trade but as an adult he operated his own shoe business. At the start of World War II, Michael, his wife and young son fled to Warsaw where they were imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto. Michael was sent to Majdanek then to Budzyn, a forced labor camp that repaired airplanes. From there he was sent to various camps like Ostrowiec and Auschwitz-Birkenau before finally being sent to Buchenwald, where he was liberated by the American Army. At liberation Michael was grossly underweight and had to recuperate for two months in a makeshift hospital in Buchenwald until he regained some weight and his health. After that he spent time in the Landsberg DP camp and then moved to the Stuttgart DP camp where he re-married and started a family. Michael, his new wife and one-year-old daughter moved to Detroit in 1949
Oral History Item
Interviewer
Draznan, Paul H
Interviewee
Opas, Michael
Date Recorded
1905-06-05
Collection
Citation
“Michael Opas Oral History,” Michigan Oral History Database, accessed October 22, 2024, http://www.database.michiganoha.org/items/show/1263.