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Birth
Vladek was born in 1906 -
Vladek's courting
Before the war, Vladek is living by himself and courting a woman named Lucia Greenberg. In the same year he meets Anja and begins courting her instead. Vladek moves to Sosnowiec Poland to be with Anja -
Vladek's marriage
Vladek and Anja get engaged in 1936, and then get married on February 14th 1937 -
Textile Factory
In 1937, with help from Anja's father Vladek opens and begins to run his own Textile factory. -
Richieu's birth
In late 1937, Vladek and Anja's first child Richieu is born -
Move to Czechoslovakia
In 1938, Anja is diagnosed with Postpartum depression and she and Vladek move to Czechoslovakia to live in a sanitarium so that Anja can recover properly. Anja's father agrees to take over the textile factory while Vladek is away with Anja. -
Return to Sosnowiec
After 3 months in Czechoslovakia, Vladek and Anja return to Sosnowiec after Anja has recovered in the sanitarium and Vladeks finds that his Textile factory has been vandalized and destroyed, but noone had thought too much about why, so Anja's father had just set up another factory for him to run. -
Beginning of war
In august of 1939, Vladek is drafted into the polish army, and by September he is fighting against the German front lines. During a skirmish he is taken prisoner by the Germans, he is then taken into a Prisoner of War camp, and then transferred into a labor camp where he stays for several months until he is released back to poland. -
Jewish troubles begin
Poland has been occupied by Germany now, and so Vladek's factory has been taken over when he returns to Sosnowiec, so he is forced to try to make a living selling and bartering things on the Black market. -
The ghetto
The persecution of the Jews gets continues to increase, and the Jews living in Sosnowiec are moved into a Ghetto in Sosnowiec so that they can be easily contained. Around the same time, Vladek's father, sister, and nieces and nephews are taken from Sosnowiec and moved into a concentration camp. -
Moved to Srodula
The jews living in Sosnowiec are thinning as more and more are taken to concentration camps, and those who still remain "Free" are moved to another town called Srodula -
Richieu is sent away
Vladek and Anja think that the best decision for their son Richieu will be to send him away to live with other family in Zaviercie. This turns our to be a fatal mistake as we later find out that Richieu is killed when Nazi's come to take them away and his aunt decides that it would be better to die of poison. -
The bunkers
In late 1943, Anja and Vladek move around in many different bunkers to avoid being captured by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp. they are briefly found out and taken to a detention camp in Srodula but Vladek's cousin Haskel helps them escape, and gets them work disguised as Polish -
Hiding in Sosnowiec
Vladek and Anja go into hiding back in Sosnowiec with Mrs. Kowka, and then move onto a farm owned by Mrs. Motonowa. The farm is searched by the Gestapo and they are forced to move back to Mrs. Kowka's, where she tells them that they may be able to be smuggled to Hungary. -
Smuggling
Anja and Vladek pay the smugglers to take them into Hungary, but on the way the smugglers betray them to the Nazis and they are sent to Auschwitz where they are separated. -
Auschwitz
When Vladek is taken to Auschwitz he stays with his friend Mandelbaum and meets a priest who analyzes his prisoner number and predicts that Vladek will make it out alive and have good luck because his prisoner number consists of some of the luckiest Jewish numbers and relates to a sacred Jewish week -
Working in Auschwitz
Vladek begins to gain favors in Auschwitz because he is able to speak multiple different languages and begins to teach the head guard how to speak English. This allows him to get a favorable job in the tin factory and be kept safe from the gas chambers. -
Auschwitz (Cont.)
While Anja and Vladek are both in Auschwitz, Vladek is briefly transferred to the "Black work" worker before he becomes a tin worker again. As a tin worker he is sent to Birkenau to take apart gas chambers. -
Finding Anja
While in Auschwitz, Vladek discovers that Anja is at the sister camp, Birkenau, and is able to send food to her through a friend that he makes at Auschwitz. Eventually he gets to see Anja when he is sent to fix roofs at Birkenau and he is able to briefly talk to her. He then saves up enough money by becoming a skillful shoemaker and shoe repairer that he is able to bribe enough people to transfer Anja over to Auschwitz. -
Hiding in Auschwitz
When the Germans start to evacuate Auschwitz to move to camps farther away from the approaching military lines, Vladek and a few others hide in the attic until they hear of plans that the Germans are going to blow up Auschwitz. They then join the other prisoners on their way to other camps. -
Dachau
When they arrive at the next camp, they find out that they are in Dachau, a camp that is even worse then Auschwitz. They are only here briefly before they are moved to Switzerland. -
German surrender
After a bit more travelling and the German surrender, Vladek is hiding on a farm in Switzerland when American soldiers show up. He works for the American soldiers on the farm for a couple months -
Back to Sosnowiec
After hearing that Anja is still alive in Sosnowiec, Vladek immediately travels for several weeks and makes his way all the way back to find Anja -
Move to Sweden
Anja and Vladek move together to Sweden after the war is over -
Art is born
Vladek and Anja have their second son, named Art -
Travel to the U.S.
When Vladek saves up enough money, He, Anja and Art are able to move to the United States -
Vladek's death
Vladek dies on August 28th 1982
