Frida Justitz (Mandl) - Deported from Vienna to Opatow on March 12 1941

Philipp Justitz, Frida Justitz, Gerhard Justitz, Samuel Mandl, Malvine Mandl: "5 min before 12"
Deportation Vienna – Opatów / Lagów, March 12, 1941

Philipp Justitz, born March 12, 1891

Frida Justitz, born August 18, 1897

Gerhard Justitz, born September 20, 1925

Samuel Mandl, born March 31, 1865

Malvine Mandl, born 11/4/1875

Representative Philipp Justitz (born March 12, 1891), his wife Frida (born August 18, 1897), their 15-year-old son Gerhard (born September 20, 1925) and Justitz' parents-in-law Malvine (born November 4, 1875) and Samuel Mandl (born March 31, 1865) lived in 1941 at Mayerhofgasse 1/21 in Vienna-Wieden. They were deported together to Opatów and, upon arrival, quartered in Kunów near Ostrowiec (Opatów district).

"The greeting to the Kahlenberg or to Vienna elicited tears from us all, it was a greeting from another world. The only remedy is not to think about it," wrote Philipp Justitz from Kunów to Leopold Schuster on July 30, 1941, a relative living in Vienna-Favoriten. His first message from there – an undated postcard (postmarked March 18, 1941) to Marie Schuster – was even more optimistic in tone:

"The people here are very poor[,] a small Jewish community of 50 families, to which we were assigned 100 men. The parents are also with us, the rest were divided between different towns. I worked as a wagon commander during the journey and I immediately took charge here with the organization of accommodation, catering, etc.[,] so that yesterday I was officially appointed as interpreter and secretary of the Jewish Council, although without any income, but nevertheless a sphere of activity.If you have the opportunity "To speak to Fam. P., tell them I'll be mayor soon, but it's not an attractive goal. [...]
Now I can get you a south-facing room soon if you should come to us."

postcard

Postcard from Philipp Justitz to Marie Schuster, Kunow near Ostrowiec, Opatów district, March 1941

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On March 30, 1941, the 76-year-old Samuel Mandl gave a more emotional and unfiltered account of the abject poverty of Polish Jews to Marie and Leopold Schuster, to which those deported from Vienna were now also exposed:

"After a lengthy journey we arrived in Kunov at 2 a.m. [,] we received warm soup and lay there on straw on the ground, after 3 days we got 1 bed together, little straw. Hygyeny is there a [sic! You have to walk 40-60 steps to defecate[,] everything open and free, dirt unbelievable[.] people there wear clothes, rags[,] children half-naked[,] dwellings makeshift and wet[,] on the whole everything is 100 years back here. Extremely cold weather [,] snow and rain, dirt to sink into."

The following correspondence between Philipp Justitz and Leopold Schuster revolved around ways and means of supporting the family from Vienna, whereby the grueling wait for letters and packages sometimes resulted in bitterness and the feeling of being abandoned:

an acquaintance to whom she sends old clothes [clothes], that's it. –
Maybe you try it too! My friends in the XVI. Bez. do it like you do, they really feel sorry for us, they pray for us, but they haven't made it into a package yet. […]
Don't be angry if I wrote so impolitely just now, but believe me, it's already 5 minutes to 12 o'clock here, the hay has to come soon, otherwise the gray horse won't benefit." (Letter to Leopold Schuster, July 30, 1941)

Philipp Justitz' last message was from February 27, 1942. He hadn't received a message from his relatives in Vienna for three months:

"Today we received mail from my cousin in Vienna, from which it appears to me that he did not receive a letter from us and neither did we from him. It is therefore also possible that we may not have received any mail from you, please write to us anyway[,] unless it is not possible for you or perhaps not right if we write to you. We would understand this too, just please let us know. Please enclose some 12 Pf stamps again
, so that we don't have to frank with GG [Generalgouvernement] stamps if it's compromising for you when you see that you're getting mail from the GG Our situation is becoming more and more precarious due to a lack of supplies and we really don't know how the next few months will
be will be survivable."

Nothing is known about the further fate of the Justitz and Mandl families; a daughter of Philipp and Frida Justitz (Magda, born 1920) survived in exile.