Jan Abby Liff honors Julius Guttmann, the brother of her family friend, Sonja Guttmann Blumenfeld, a resident of Jerusalem, Israel. Julius’ father, Leo, was born on May 26, 1881, and his mother, Frieda, was born in 1883. The family had a country house in Jasne, Poland. Julius, whose nickname was Iziu, was an educated and intelligent man and was known to stay up late at night reading books. Early in the war, Julius’ synagogue in his home town in Poland, Bielitz (Bielsko), was burned. Soon thereafter, the Nazi occupiers took Julius to a concentration camp while en route to Auschwitz in September 1939. Julius and three friends attempted to escape, but were shot while running across a bridge. In addition to Sonja, Julius’ brother Munjo survived the Holocaust and later made a name for himself as a director of theater in Amsterdam.
The Nashville Holocaust Memorial