David Karmi

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

David Karmi was born into a Jewish family in Halmi, now Halmeu, Romania, and grew up in the Satu Mare region. His father had served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War, but that service offered no protection from anti-Jewish persecution. Because of his father’s Polish origins, the family was expelled to Poland. They eventually returned, only to find their home and possessions taken from them.

David was subsequently deported to Auschwitz, where he was separated from his family. He later endured imprisonment in a concentration camp established among the ruins of the Warsaw ghetto, followed by a death march and transfer to Dachau. Hunger, sickness, violence and forced labor threatened his survival. In his memoir, he describes how resourcefulness, friendships, moments of help and good fortune enabled him to endure successive dangers.

After liberation, David made his way to British Mandatory Palestine. He joined the Haganah and fought in Israel’s War of Independence, beginning another chapter after surviving Nazi imprisonment. He later moved to the United States, where he built a career in construction and real-estate development, working on residential and commercial properties in New York City and Long Island.