Alex Finder papers

Alex Finder (born Zysiek Finder Jassy) was born on May 1, 1919 in Kraków, Poland. A Polish Jew, during the war he was imprisoned in the Kraków ghetto and several concentration camps including Płaszów, Gusen, Gunskirchen, and Mauthausen. He was liberated from Gunskirchen concentration camp in Austria by the US armed forces. After the war, he lived at the Bad Ischl displaced persons camp in Austria and contributed to a column and letters to newspapers that circulated among the Polish-speaking community of survivors. At some point Alex married his wife, Helen, also a survivor and they reside in Queens, New York. The Alex Finder papers include a handbill advertising a ceremony held on May 5, 1946 at Ebensee cemetery in Austria to commemorate the first anniversary of liberation. Hundreds of survivors from displaced person camps attended the ceremony. The event was organized by Alex Finder and presided over by an American army chaplain. Also included are a memoir entitled “Helen and Alex Finder: Two Stories of Survival,” 1996, and five newspaper articles written by Alex Finder while billeted in the post-war displaced persons camp at Bad Ischl, Austria. The titles of the articles are: “Czytelnicy pisza,” “Zydom pomordowanym - wspomnienie,” “Buty, buty, buty,” “Mützen ab!” and “Kostträger heraus!”