The fates Lostice

Egon Morgenstern

Egon was born on July 27, 1914 to Laura Morgenstern, who lived and worked as a midwife in Lostice. The Morgensterns were Jewish. After the Nazi invasion Egon and his younger brother Armin escaped to Poland. They planed to go via the Baltic States and Sweden to the West and fight the Nazis. However, Egon was arrested by Polish police and Armin escaped from Poland to Russia. Egon was later released and continued his journey alone, without documents and money. In Estonia he was arrested by the infamous Russian secret police (NKVD) and accused of spying. He survived the transport of death and many years of imprisonment in a gulag by the Petchora River near the polar circle.

After WWII he was released from the gulag, but was not allowed to leave the Soviet Union. All of his attempts to get permission for the return to Czechoslovakia failed. Until 1958 his closest relatives believed he was dead. Presently (2010) Egon lives in Vilnius (Lithuania).



Armin Morgenstern was born in Loctice on March 1, 1922. In 1939 he was fired from the Business College, because he was a Jew. Shortly after that he left the country. He evaded Polish police and slipped to Russia, where he became a teacher of German language. He was 17 years old. Later he joined the Czechoslovak (Svoboda) army in Russia and fought the Nazis. At that time almost 60% of this army consisted of Jewish volunteers. As a member of the air force he took part in many battles. After the war Armin safely returned home and settled in Prague. He was awarded the Order of the Red Flag, the Medal for Heroism, the Czechoslovak War Cross 1939 (twice), etc.

In 1941 their younger sister Renata was shot by the Nazis near Minsk. In 1942 their mother perished in the concentration camp Rejowiec and father Julius was killed in the Warsaw ghetto.