To Bear Witness: Stories from Auschwitz to Cincinnati. The lives of Henry Carter & Leo Wilich

Step behind the scenes, into the archives of the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center, in Union Terminal, to explore the lives of Henry Carter and Leo Wilich—Auschwitz survivors who rebuilt their lives in Cincinnati. 

“Henry didn't sit idly by in the ghetto. He, through acts that were both big and small, did what he could to resist, and he became involved in the underground movement. When I look at this photograph of Henry, I can see - I can see that courage within his face.” 

• Cori Silbernagel, Director of Collections & Exhibitions at the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center 

You’ll hear how Henry risked everything to resist Nazi rule from inside the Krakow ghetto, and how he later adopted a child orphaned by the Holocaust. We also explore Leo’s ritual of putting on his camp uniform during hard times—reminding himself that he had already survived the worst. We share these stories ahead of a landmark collection of artifacts and photos from Auschwitz, coming to Cincinnati in October 2025. In this limited series, we’ll add insight and local context to this internationally renowned exhibition. 

Those who visit will not just see the same exhibition shown around the world. They will also get in-depth local stories of Auschwitz survivors who immigrated to Cincinnati. During WWII, the historic train station where this exhibition will be shown saw millions of American servicemen come through its doors. But there was another group of travelers whose lives would be impacted by Union Terminal. More than 1,000 Jews who survived the Holocaust immigrated to Cincinnati, arriving in the very building where the public will be able to view Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. 

The opportunity to bring this exhibition to Cincinnati has been generously supported by Rhonda and Larry Sheakley, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, the Ohio Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission and  

H.B., E.W. & F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee  

Jacob G. Schmidlapp Fund, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee  

Helen G., Henry F., Louise Tuechter Dornette Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee  

Western & Southern Financial Group  

Les and Renee Sandler  

The Kanter/Knue Family  

The Neil Bortz Family  

Rosenthal Family Foundation  

Beth and Louis Guttman  

To Bear Witness: Stories from Auschwitz to Cincinnati is part of the Cynthia & Harold Guttman Family Center for Storytelling. Special thanks to Julie and John Cohen for their support of this series. Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. was created by Musealia in cooperation with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.  

Presented by NEON.  

For more information, please visit:  

Musealia  

https://www.musealia.net/  

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum  

https://www.auschwitz.org/en/  

NEON  

https://www.neonglobal.com/en/ 

Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. ticket info, additional resources for both adults and students, travel itineraries and more  

https://www.cincymuseum.org/auschwitz/  

 

Visit the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center https://www.holocaustandhumanity.org/  

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Episode Transcript

Jackie Congedo (00:01):
Auschwitz is a name the world can't forget. At
the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust& Humanity Center, we've made it
part of our mission tounderstand its impact by
learning from those who survivedand came to Cincinnati. In this
limited series, we share thosestories of courage loss and the
ripple effects still felt today.

Cori Silbernagel (00:24):
My name is Cori Silbernagel. I'm the
Director of Collections andExhibitions at the Nancy & David
Wolf Holocaust & HumanityCenter, and today, we are really
fortunate to be filming in ourcollection storage spaces at
Union Terminal. One of myfavorite things about working

(00:45):
with our collection is that Iget to learn the stories of of
our Holocaust survivors thatsettled here in Cincinnati. So
today I'm going to share two ofthose stories with you. Each of
these stories is a story ofcourage, is a story of
resilience, and is a story ofboth survival in Auschwitz and

(01:09):
rebuilding here in Cincinnati.
So I first would like to sharethe story of Henry Carter. This
is a photograph of Henry Cartertaken later in life. Henry
Carter was a survivor fromPoland. He was living with his
family, his wife, has two youngchildren in bleichow. When the
German army invaded Poland in1939 Henry and his family fled

(01:33):
their home. They rented anapartment in Krakow, and they
were safe for a time, buteventually the German front
continued across the country ofPoland, and in 1941 Henry and
his family were confined to theKrakow ghetto. Henry didn't sit
idly by in the ghetto. He,through acts that were both big

(01:56):
and small, did what he could toresist, and he became involved
in the underground movement.
When I look at this photographof Henry, I can see, I can see
that courage within his face. Inthe ghetto, he obtained false
papers, and he was able to comeand go from the ghetto

(02:20):
secretively, and in doing that,he was able to gather
information by listening to theBritish broadcast radio. So he
was learning about what washappening in the war. He was
bringing that information backinto the ghetto, telling members
of the resistance. Andultimately he was arrested. And

(02:44):
he was caught for doing this. Hewas arrested one day coming back
into the ghetto to visit hisfamily, and he was placed in the
prison in the ghetto.
Ultimately, he was deported toAuschwitz, and that was when
Henry was separated from hisfamily. He he never saw his wife
and children again, and they didnot survive the Holocaust in

(03:08):
Auschwitz, Henry survived byhelping others and by receiving
the help of others. When he wasin the camp, there were three
different boys that he caredfor. They had lost their
families. They were separatedthemselves, and Henry cared for
them up through liberation. WhenHenry first arrived at the camp,

(03:32):
he was tattooed with a number onhis arm. You can see that number
here in this photograph, and hewas given a striped prisoner
uniform. This was the cap thatHenry was given. This number is
embroidered after the war, Henrykept this because it was a

(03:52):
memory of what he hadexperienced and what he had
overcome when they wereliberated from the camp. He went
home, discovered that his wifeand his children had not
survived. He had those threeboys with him, two of them he
was able to reunite with theirfamilies, the other he adopted

(04:14):
as the boy had no family of hisown remaining, and they came to
Cincinnati. In Cincinnati, Henrystarted to share his story. He
had married a woman who alsosurvived the camp, named Anne.
She came with him. This is aphotograph of them taken after
liberation. They're wearingtheir uniforms still. When they

(04:38):
came to Cincinnati, they didn'tshare their stories often, but
Henry started to share hisstory, and some of these
newspapers are evidence of that.
As Henry got older, he began toshare more and more, and he
became a really beloved figurein our community. He owned a dry

(05:02):
goods store in Erlanger,Kentucky. You can see that
photograph here. Here's Henrystanding outside of his store,
inside of his store, and when Iread through these newspapers, I
can pull. Pull out, you know,some really special, special
quotes. He notes that, "Before Idie, I want people to know about

(05:26):
what happened." He writes that,"I only survive by strong
beliefs. I'm grateful to behere. People don't know what
freedom means, and I thank Godthat I'm here." So it's
important for Henry to share hisstory, and it really is a
privilege that we're able toshare that story. Today, Henry

(05:49):
is no longer living, but hisstory can continue to be shared
through artifacts like these,through the testimony he
recorded, and his story isupstairs in the museum today.
Another story I want to sharewith you from the archives is
the story of Leo Wilich. This isa story that has been shared in

(06:13):
our museum for years throughthis very special artifact right
next to me. If you visited themuseum before, you've probably
seen this, and today we'vebrought it downstairs into our
collection office to share moreof this story with you. So Leo
was born in Poland. He is aPolish survivor who was living

(06:37):
in Lodz when Poland was invaded.
He was a furrier. He was asuccessful businessman, and upon
occupation, was forced into theLodz ghetto. From the Lodz
ghetto, Leo was deported toAuschwitz. He was with his
brother. His brother died veryshortly after arrival, something
that's that's written thatreally tortured Leo throughout

(07:00):
the rest of his life thatexperience, but Leo really
persevered and continued by notonly surviving in the camps, but
rebuilding a new life here inCincinnati, When Leo arrived in
Auschwitz, he was given thisuniform. His number is included
here on this badge, and he wasnever tattooed with this number

(07:24):
as many Auschwitz survivors orthose coming into the camp were
he would have been, had he notbeen sent to Dachau 10 days
later, so he was in Auschwitzfor a very short period of time,
ultimately, then went to Dachauand was liberated from Dachau at
the end of the war. When Leo wasliberated, he didn't get rid of

(07:49):
his uniform. I mean, it existsright next to us today as this
tangible memory of what he hadbeen through. It was important
to him. He took very good careof it for an item that was made
to dehumanize, to take away hisidentity. This uniform became
part of his identity. And let meexplain what I mean by that.

(08:14):
When Leo came to Cincinnati, hecame in 1949, he was the only
survivor of his family and andhe had to rebuild. Life was not
easy for him, and rebuilding wasreally hard. So Leo would, upon
having a bad day, take thisuniform out of his closet at his
home, and he would put it on andlook at himself in the mirror,

(08:39):
and he would be reminded lookingat himself that he had witnessed
his worst days already. Hisworst days were in the ghetto.
His worst days were in Auschwitzand in Dachau and that because
of those experiences, he knew hecould overcome what was

(08:59):
bothering him today. So thesymbol of dehumanization for Leo
became part of who he was, partof his story. I want to share a
photograph of Leo. Thisphotograph is taken in 1950 he
would have been in Cincinnati atthis point in time. He carries a
very serious face, but we hearthat Leo was a really joyful,

(09:23):
happy person. He He was the lifeof the party. He loved to dance.
He had many friends among thesurvivor community. Many
Holocaust survivors came here toCincinnati and and part of that
was because of Leo. He became anupstander himself later in life,
because he arrived in Cincinnatiearly on in 1949 as other

(09:48):
survivors saw new homes, placesto go, survivors from log his
hometown, he helped sponsor someof those people to join him in
Cincinnati. So part of thisvibrant survivor community that
exists today among the survivorschildren and grandchildren, is
rooted in that act that Leo didthose years ago.

(10:16):
I want to share a passage from aletter that was written by Leo's
cousin. She shares a little bitabout him to help us understand
who the person was that worethis uniform. She writes, "Like
so many other survivors, Leo'sability to create a new life was

(10:36):
a remarkable achievement,although he didn't articulate it
as such, Leo understood thefreedom that he found in the
United States. Could never bedisengaged from its hard won
roots and suffering. His campuniform was the personification
of that suffering, yet hisvalues were anchored in those

(10:59):
painful memories. What emergedwas an individual whose
compassion and desire toalleviate the suffering of those
less fortunate made him a muchappreciated member of this
community." Individuals like Leoand Henry are remembered by many
in our community. They'reremembered as people who brought

(11:23):
others together, people whospread joy and hope. And I
really think it's remarkablethat they were able to do that,
and it really should be aninspiration to all of us that we
can be the best of humanitytoday, even for those that have
witnessed the worst of humanity,

Jackie Congedo (11:45):
This is a production of the Nancy & David
Wolf Holocaust & HumanityCenter. The Center's mission is
to ensure that the lessons ofthe Holocaust inspire action
today. This series is part ofthe Cynthia and Harold Guttman
Family Center for storytellingspecial. Thanks to Julie and
John Cohen for their support ofthis series, visit us in person
at historic Union Terminal inCincinnati, Ohio, or online

(12:08):
anytime atholocaustandhumanity.org.
Managing producer is AnneThompson. Technical producer is
Robert Mills, and Technicaldirector is Josh Emerson.
Additional video production byMichael Holder. Visit Auschwitz.
Not long ago. Not far away. atUnion terminal, beginning in
October 2025.