(Yad Vashem-The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority) Each year, six Holocaust survivors are chosen to light torches on Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins Wednesday evening, in memory of the six million Jews who were murdered. These are the torchlighters: Jehosua Hesel Fried was born in 1930 in Czechoslovakia. In 1938, the region where he lived was annexed to Hungary, and in 1944, Hungarian police and Gestapo officers deported the Jews to Auschwitz. In December 1944, Jehosua and his friends were taken on a death march. At night, they slept in the snow. They were eventually transported to Mauthausen, where they had to eat snails and frogs to survive. The U.S. Army liberated the camp in May 1945. Chaim Grosbein was born in 1937 in an area of Poland that is today in Belarus. When the Germans came, Chaim and his family hid in a pit under a stove. When the refuge was discovered, most of them were forced out and then shot or beaten to death. Chaim and his cousin Rishka were hiding in the corners of the pit, and went undetected. They eventually found refuge in the woods. After Chaim was ambushed and shot by the Germans, Russian partisans found him and saved him. He later lived on his own for two years, sleeping in ditches in the ground. Sara Kain was born in 1919 in Czechoslovakia. In 1938, the region where Sara lived was annexed to Hungary, and after the Germans occupied Hungary in 1944, she and her family were deported to Auschwitz. On arrival, her parents were led to the gas chambers, while Sara and her sister Ethel became inmates. They were transferred to Bergen-Belsen in open-door cattle cars in the snow in the winter of 1944-1945. After being in other camps, they were liberated by the U.S. Army in April 1945. Joseph Labi was born in 1928 in Benghazi, Libya. In 1938, when the Italian racial laws were extended to Libya, Joseph and his fellow Jewish students were transferred to a separate school. In 1942, Joseph's entire family was deported to the Giado concentration camp in Libya, and were then deported to Italy, where they were interned at Castelnovo ne' Monti. In February 1944, the Germans sent them to Bergen-Belsen. Joseph was transferred to France in a prisoner exchange deal in March 1945. On returning to Benghazi, Joseph met soldiers from the British Army's Jewish Brigade who suggested that he come to Israel. "I went to the train station. Somebody gave me a hat and dressed me in a Jewish Brigade uniform," said Joseph. "I boarded the train dressed as a soldier and we went to Alexandria." After being smuggled into Israel, Joseph volunteered for the Palmach and fought in Israel's War of Independence. Lonia Rozenhoch was born in 1920 in Poland. After Germany invaded Poland, she and her two sisters were sent to a labor camp at a weapons factory. In July 1944, with the advance of the Red Army, Lonia and her sisters were sent on a death march across Poland to Auschwitz. In April 1945, the sisters were released in a prisoner exchange deal and went to Sweden, coming to Israel in 1948. Robert Tomashof was born in 1916 in Czechoslovakia. In March 1939, when the fascist regime rose to power, Robert was forced into the Slovak army. In 1942, after his mother and brothers were deported to Auschwitz and murdered, Robert fled and, using false papers, reached Budapest, where he was arrested after the Germans invaded Hungary in April 1944. After escaping, he fled to Romania, coming to Israel in 1948.
2016-05-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive