Date of birth

06/02/1921

Where were you born?

Dombrowa, Poland

Dombrowa, Poland

Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)

Blechammer / Srodula Kamionki

Where did you go after being liberated?

I met my wife, Bella, through Bella's brother, Salek Dancygier, I knew their whole family. We became engaged from before the war. I then learned that I had a cousin living in Pietrekov, Poland and went to find him. I found my cousin and we then ;earned that we had other family members living in Berlin. We decided to go to Berlin to find them. After we marred, we went to Israel. We came to Israel illegally in 1948. An organization from Israel helped to arrange it, we first came to Gibraltar and then to Haifa. I knew Hebrew, I had studied in a Yeshiva (rabbinical school) for 14 years. I worked for a kibbutz (a collective agricultural settlement in modern Israel) near Lod, we lived near Rishon LeZion. The conditions we lived in, in Israel were very hard. We got papers to go to Canada and later arrived in Windsor, Ontario in1959. We had two daughters who were born in Israel, Tovah and Ella. Helen was born on a kibbutz (a collective agricultural settlement in modern Israel) in Germany.

Occupation after the war

Tool and die maker, restaurateur . I joined my wife's restaurant on Wyandotte Street, it was called it Bella’s. Later when I joined the restaurant and we called it Abraham’s. It became successful. We made homemade soup and Jewish dishes.

When and where were you married?

We were married on a kibbutz in Regensburg, Germany

Spouse

Bella Zarnowiecki

Children

Helen, Tova, and Elizabeth

Grandchildren

Two grandchildren: Mark and Rona and three great-grandchildren

What do you think helped you to survive?

The Russians

What message would you like to leave for future generations?

Interviewer:

Charles Silow

Interview date:

02/13/2011