"My childhood was topsy-turvy, but it was the only like I knew. It's like if you are born in a fire, it doesn't seem so hot."
-George Elbaum
Mrs. Elbaum, George's mother, gave George a fake identity, smuggling him out of Warsaw in 1945.
Here is a part of our interview with George, where he explains his escape from Warsaw:
I: And how did she physically get you out of the ghetto?
G: I don’t know. I know she smuggled herself and me out of the ghetto. She tells me that I was hidden in a bag, in a knapsack. I mean, I was pretty small. I was undernourished, I was 4 years old, I was undernourished. But she said it was a knapsack. I am not quite sure what she meant, you know. I’m sure she didn’t carry the knapsack. But, she said I was smuggled out in a sack or knapsack. I don’t know how she was smuggled. We were smuggled out together. That was apparently early enough so that they weren’t watching things quite as well as after, shortly thereafter. So there was still time to do that.
G: I don’t know. I know she smuggled herself and me out of the ghetto. She tells me that I was hidden in a bag, in a knapsack. I mean, I was pretty small. I was undernourished, I was 4 years old, I was undernourished. But she said it was a knapsack. I am not quite sure what she meant, you know. I’m sure she didn’t carry the knapsack. But, she said I was smuggled out in a sack or knapsack. I don’t know how she was smuggled. We were smuggled out together. That was apparently early enough so that they weren’t watching things quite as well as after, shortly thereafter. So there was still time to do that.