Otto’s Story

Otto Wolf was born in Mohelnice, Moravia, Czech Republic on June 5, 1927. He was the baby of three children. His older sister Felicitas (also known as Licka or Lici) was born on March 27, 1920 in Lipnik, Czech Republic and his older brother, Kurt was born on February 13, 1915, also born in Lipnik.

The Wolf’s were living in Olomouc where Berthold Wolf, Otto’s father, was a businessman. Felicitas was studying technical design, teaching apprentices about dressmaking and worked as a manager in a clothing store. Kurt was studying to be a doctor at the University of Brno.

On March 15, 1939, the Germans had annexed the Czech Republic, then called Czechoslovakia. The Germans made Slovakia its own county, now making the Czech Republic. The situation made Kurt Wolf feel so uncomfortable that he decided a life in exile would be worth it. He fled to the Soviet Union and stayed there.

The Wolf’s immediately felt the German’s treachery. The anti-Jewish laws, made the Wolf’s move from Olomouc to the town of Tršice, only twenty-two minutes away. Felicitas then went to work as a farmhand to help with her parent’s finances after Berthold lost his job.

Otto’s schooling came to a sudden halt when he was asked to leave school.

In January of 1942, Kurt joined the Czech Army Unit fighting in the Soviet Union. Six months later, the Wolf’s received their deportation notices. They decided that they would go into hiding instead.

They went into hiding in the forests in Tršice. What the villagers of Tršice did not know was that a gardener named Jaroslav Zdařil (also known as Slavek in Otto’s diary) had arranged a hiding place for the Wolf’s. He did this mainly because he had love for Felicitas and he wanted to help her family. His job was to provide food, shelter and other supplies for them. They remained with Slavek for almost two years.

When the situation with Slavek got so bad (his inconsistency with food, supplies and other goods ), the Wolf’s found shelter and solace with Maria Zbořilová (called Mařenka in Otto’s diary).

They moved to the attic of Maria’s house on April 13, 1944. They remained there for about a year. Maria was their former maid who promised that she’d help them anytime they needed it. They were also aided by a local dentist named Ludmila Tichá. She was so kind to them and provided food and supplies to the family.

They remained with the Zbořils for almost a year. Mr. Zbořil, who had been always hesitant about letting the Wolf’s stay with them, finally asked them to leave in 1945.

The Wolf’s were hidden by the Ohera family in Zákřov, only three minutes away from Tršice . They were still being helped by Mrs. Ticha and a new helper, Andela Chodilová. The Oheras took care of Otto and his family.

Sometimes they would have to resort to the forest for safety when there were house searches by German troops.

On April 18, 1945, there was an unplanned attack in the town of Zákřov. The Vlasov Troops (Russian troops fighting for the Germans) were looking for Partisans, people who hid in the forests and attacked the Nazis and their collaborators at every opportunity. Otto’s family were trapped in this situation. Felicitas wrote about the day in her brother’s diary. She said that Otto was mistaken for a Partisan and was taken away, along with twenty-three other men.

Otto was taken to Ujezd, where the headquarters was. There, it was revealed that he was a Jew by the local fascist Hodulik. He was then handed over to the Gestapo. The Gestapo questioned Otto for twenty-four hours and got nothing out of him. They tortured him relentlessly and still, Otto saved his family and the ones who hid them-sparing their lives.

On April 20, 1945, Otto was taken along with eighteen other young men who had been caught in the roundup by the Vlasovites to a nearby forest, where they were shot to death and burned. Otto was seventeen.

Kurt also did not make it. He died on March 9, 1943 fighting the Germans in Sokolovo.

On May 8, 1945, the Czech Republic was liberated. When the remaining Wolf’s came out of their hiding place, they learned of both Otto’s and Kurt’s deaths. This made Ruzena Wolf, Otto’s mother, suffer a terrible stroke that she never fully recovered from. She died in 1952. Berthold Wolf remarried and gave Felicitas a step brother, Thomas Mandl, whom she remained close with.

During their time in hiding, Otto kept a diary in which he wrote more than a thousand entries detailing what his family ate, their fights, their hiding situation and other details pertaining to his family. After his disappearance, Felicitas continued his diary in his absence.

Otto, like Moshe Flinker and Anne Frank, was not yet twenty. He would have turned eighteen that June had he survived. There is only one known photo of Otto, him in a suit and tie.

In 1995, the seventy-five year old Felictias Wolf (whom you’ll read about later) donated her brother’s diaries to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. She also donated the photos of herself, Otto, Kurt and her parents. He is also mentioned in the book Salvaged Pages by Alexandra Zapruder.