David Meir Leibler

David Meir Leibler was born on 16 April 1895 in Chrzanow in Poland. He was a merchant by profession. He dealt in furrier's accessories. After World War I, he moved to Berlin in the hope of leading a better life there. In Berlin he met Malka Schöngut, who had also moved to Germany from Poland after the war. They married in 1922.
They had three children. In 1923 their son Max was born, in 1926 their daughter Erna and in 1932 their daughter Rita. The family was religious. They often talked about emigrating to Palestine, but this did not seem realistic because of David's poor health. The Leiblers last lived in Gipsstraße in Berlin-Mitte, in a neighbourhood where many Jews lived.
The family's life changed dramatically in October 1938, when Jewish men with Polish citizenship were arrested and deported to Poland. When David Meir was arrested and taken to a camp, the Malka immediately took the initiative and sent Max to Oswiecim / Auschwitz, where her family lived. David Meir was transported from the camp to the German-Polish border, from where he went to Oswiecim to his wife's family. Malka and the daughters remained alone in Berlin for the time being; in the summer of 1939, they received entry visas for Poland and also moved to Oswiecim, where they saw David Meir again.
Son Max had already been in Bialystok in eastern Poland since May 1939 in a training camp that prepared Jewish youths for life in Palestine. When the occupation of Bialystok by German troops was imminent at the beginning of the war, the young people fled to Lithuania, from where they later made their way to Haifa in an adventurous escape. With the help of a relative already living in Palestine, they managed to obtain an entry visa for daughter Erna, who thus also managed to escape from occupied Poland.
There was no rescue for Malka, David Meir and Rita Leibler. They were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in September 1942 and murdered there.