Irene Sobel Oral History

Irene Sobel Oral History

An interview with Irene Sobel (Miller), a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Irene was born in Warsaw, Poland and lived with her parents and sister in a Jewish neighborhood of the city. The family was not religious but embraced the Jewish culture. After the Germans invaded Poland, her family decided to escape to Russia fearing they would be prosecuted for being Communist. After being denied entrance into Russia, Mr. Miller escaped over the border and came back with falsified documents to get the family across. After residing in Ignatki for a short time, Soviet transport trains picked the family up and shipped them east to a Communist work camp in Siberia. After being released from the camp, the family was transported to Tashkent where Irene's parents were forced to work on a collective farm and the girls were put into an orphanage. Mr. Miller became ill and died during a dysentery epidemic even though Mrs. Miller walked all night to try and get him antibiotics. After the war Irene and her family returned to Poland where Irene was put into a Krakow orphanage because her mother couldn't support her. Eventually Irene and her mother moved to Haifa, Israel where Irene met her husband, Howard Sobel, an American living in Israel. Irene then moved to Cleveland with her husband and had three children, later moving to Detroit. Irene went to school, obtaining graduate degrees, and achieved a successful professional career. Irene and her husband later divorced

Bolkosky, Sidney M

Sobel, Irene

1998-09-08