Larry Wayne Oral History

Larry Wayne Oral History

An interview with Larry Wayne, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Larry Wayne was born in Lódz, Poland in 1923. He had three blood siblings and two adopted siblings. His family owned a successful bakery and sent him to private school at the Katzenelson Gymnasium where he was trained to be a lieutenant in the Polish army. Shortly after the Nazi invasion, Larry and his extended family were forced to move into a small apartment in the Lódz ghetto in 1940. His father died in the ghetto. Afterwards Larry's family was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where his mother and little brother were gassed in 1944. Larry and his brother Jack signed up to work at the Janina coal mine and then were relocated to various camps. Larry attempted to escape during this relocation period and was shot in the knee. He was brought to Buchenwald where the Allied forces liberated him in 1945. After the war Larry was treated for typhoid fever by the American army and moved to Bad Nauheim where he began smuggling Aliyah Bet. Once he reunited with his brother Jack and sister Ruth, they immigrated to Detroit in 1946

Bolkosky, Sidney M

Wayne, Larry

1905-06-27