RelatioNet BR BE 27 KA RO
Full Name Ben Zion BruckerInterviewer:Full Name/s: Sharon Brucker, Elinor Akavya, Daniella Rodriguez
Email: aaliyah_369@hotmail.comAddress: Kfar-Saba, Israel. Survivor:Code: RelatioNet BR BE 27 KA RO
Family Name: Brucker First Name: Ben Zion
Father Name: BaruchMother Name: Liza
Birth Date: 9/9/1927
Town In Holocaust: KlushCountry In Holocaust:Romania Status (Today): AliveAddress Today: Raanana, Israel.
Relatives:Code: RelatioNet AA BB 11 CC DD
Family Name: Brucker First Name: BellaFather Name:Baruch Mother Name: Liza
Relationship (to Survivor): sister
Birth Date:
Town In Holocaust: Klush Country In Holocaust: Romania
Status (Today): Dead
Death Place: Auschwitz Year Of Death:she was 5 years old
Code: RelatioNet AA BB 11 CC DD
Family Name:Brucker First Name: Toibi
Father Name: Baruch Mother Name: Liza
Relationship (to Survivor): Brother
Birth Date:
Town In Holocaust:Klush Country In Holocaust: Romania
Status (Today):Dead
Death Place: AuschwitzYear Of Death:he was 7 years old.
Code: RelatioNet AA BB 11 CC DDFamily Name: Brucker
First Name:MosheFather Name:Baruch
Mother Name: Liza Relationship (to Survivor): Brother Birth Date: Town In Holocaust: Klush
Country In Holocaust: Romania Status (Today): Dead Death Place: Auschwitz
Year Of Death:he was 9 years old.
Code: RelatioNet
BR MI 29 KA RO Family Name:
Brucker First Name:
Michael Father Name:
BaruchMother Name:
LizaRelationship (to Survivor):
Brother Birth Date:
1929 Town In Holocaust:
KlushCountry In Holocaust:
RomaniaStatus (Today):
DeadDeath Place:
Raanana.Israel Year Of Death:
1996 Code: RelatioNet
BR MI 29 KA RO Family Name:
Brucker
First Name:
Aria Father Name:
BaruchMother Name:
Liza
Relationship (to Survivor):
Brother
Birth Date:
1925 Town In Holocaust:
Klush
Country In Holocaust:
RomaniaStatus (Today):
Alive Address Today:
Raanana, Israel.Code: RelatioNet BR BA 23 KA ROFamily Name:
Brucker First Name:
Baol Father Name:
Baruch
Mother Name:
LizaRelationship (to Survivor):
Brother Birth Date:
1923 Town In Holocaust:
KlushCountry In Holocaust:
RomaniaStatus (Today):
Alive Address Today:
CanadaCode: RelatioNet
BR LE 21 KA RO Family Name:
BruckerFirst Name:
Leah Father Name:
Baruch
Mother Name:
LizaRelationship (to Survivor):
SisterBirth Date:
1921 Town In Holocaust:
KlushCountry In Holocaust:
RomaniaStatus (Today):
AliveAddress Today:
Raanana, Israel.
Interview
Ben- Zion was born in Deish, Romania. When he was 11 years old he moved with his family to Klush, the capital city of Transylvania. Transylvania is a parcel of land between Romania and Hungary. Years before he was born the Austrians dominated this parcel of land.
Klush was a city of knowledge and education, it was a cultural city. In Klush there were many Universities, Libraries, Theaters and people who work as dealers. Nowadays Klush isn't as cultural city as it used to be and it's valve from this point of view has gone down. When Romania dominated Klush the city develops was fast but when the Germans invaded there all the investments in the field of knowledge wasn't like before.
Deish wasn't a big city and therefore there weren't enough places to work to provide for the basic needs for the eleven people in the family. Ben-Zion's father, Baruch, was a tailor and his mother, Liza, was a seamstress. Ben-Zion lived with his seven brothers and sisters (Bella, Moshe, Toibi, Haim, Aria,Micheal, Baol and Leah), his parents and his grandmother. His father looked for work in Klush so he rented a store to work as a tailor and the apartment was right in front of the store. Therefore it was very comfortable. The fact that Klush was very populated with Jews, made the decision to move there easier. The apartment there has no bathroom so they had to go miles just for do their bodily needs. The shower was a big put. Although, Klush was a city of culture an education, it wasn't a very advanced city.
Ben-Zion lived there for about six years and at the age of seventeen the Germans invaded and they were forced to obey their rules, like wearing a yellow star. The yellow star differentiated the Jews from others and the Germans felt that it was necessary to identify Jews. At Ben Zion's work place everyone was Christians and no one knew that Ben Zion was a Jew. When he came to work and the yellow star was on his upper arm the police officer that was there, asked him if he wanted to remove the yellow star and if it was a joke. Even when the Germans tock him to the concentration camp, the Jews that where there and knew him, though he was a German police man. No one noticed he was Jewish. He was in Auschwitz for about two months and there, the Germans separated him from his family. He was left with his father and his three brothers, and the Germans took them to work at the Ghetto Warsaw for three months.
Inside the Ghetto it was relatively good.Their got food, the Nazis didn't beat them and didn't abuse them nor kill them.They were in there until the Russians got closer.
The partisans that were near by brought a rumor that the Nazis were going to kill them this night by shooting them into the pit their had dug themselves. The Russians got closer faster than the Nazis had expected so they took everyone out for a three day journey with no food or water. Many died because of the horrible cold. The only source of water was the snow. They got to a train station and from there they went to Dacho and on the way there Ben Zion lost his father, and stayed with his brother. The Nazis put them in a work camp in Lansberg for 4-5 months. They were without any clothing in temperature of -20 degrees and they had a very little food. They stayed in a bunker inside the earth.
In December, 1945, there was an order to close the work camp because they were worried that the Americans were coming nearby. So the Nazis took everyone out of the camp and put them in a row. Everyone who was capable of walking ran into the row. Unfortunately Ben Zion had a problem with his leg, Agerna, it's an awful disease that can kill from infection and because of that he wasn't capable of walking so he had to go back to the bunkers. There he saw an older man, a doctor, who told him that if he didn’t take care of his leg he would die. The doctor told him to go to the kitchen and bring him a bucket full of boiling water. The doctor cut his leg and removed all the pus from his leg. He took a rag soaked with hot water and put it inside his leg so the pus wouldn't start all over again. (When there's no more pus the body expels the rag by itself).However, after a few days later he got sick with Typhus and was sent to a room with others who had Typhus.The following day, Ben Zion heard a scream, He waked up and to his good fortune he recovered from the terrible disease.He went outside and asked somebody what all the screaming was about, he was told that the Red Cross had brought a packages of food, he took the package and ate it only in an half an hour.The next day the Nazis closed the camp and took them to a different camp which was 14 kilometers away. Ben Zion was there for one day and he transferred to a camp which was 7 kilometers from Munich.
The season was May; the conditions were difficult without any food and water. People were dying all a round. Nevertheless, he met someone who was from his native city; his name was Himovize (he probably stayed in Romania after the war ended). All of a sudden they heard shouting, the Americans were coming and the Nazis surrendered and in seconds Ben Zion felt the sense of freedom and liberty.He and his friend went to Munich.All the houses had been destroyed. They looked for some food and when they came back the Americans prepared food for the Jews.From this point they were free.A couple days later someone told him that he had seen his brother at Dauchow.When Ben Zion heard that he left his friend and ran away to look for him. Not long after he found his brother Aria and joined him.They were at a camp for about two months under the Americans supervision. The Americans put them into the Germans houses.Then they heard a rumor that their sister had got back to Klush.
The way to Klush was very dangerous because the Russians sent every Jew they saw to an extermination camp. When they got to Prague some people tried to steal their luggage. After the long road they got to Klush and found their sister Bella and their big brother Moshe.
From there they got to Hungary where there were trains to Germany and from there a station to go to Israel (rais2).
In Germany he met someone and they started to date and they spent a lot of time together. Dvora (his girlfriend) heard that her brother was alive and that he was in Israel. Dvora wanted to move to Israel to find her brother, so Ben Zion decided to go with her to Israel in an organized way. He changed his mind and finally decided not to go .A woman came to him and told him that she had a passport and a visa to Palestine and asked him if he wanted to go there.
The head of the England military gave 3-4 people passports every few months.In 1942 he went with his friend to Haifa, with no language and nothing else. From there they got to Tel Aviv and started to look for Dvora's brother. He found out that he was at kibbutz Bet Alfa, somebody told him that he had already left, so he went to Gan Yavne (today it is near Rehoboth). He went into the "Hagana" and he had to lead the convoy from Rehoboth to Tel Aviv through Arab villages that attacked them from everywhere, so they disassembled their guns and hid the gun parts in their clothes o the British wouldn't find them, and when they got back to the bus they put the guns back together and started to shoot and the Arabs ran from the place and that was a victory for the "Hagana".
Right after the state was established in 1948; Ben Zion was drafted to the war in Jaffa against the Arabians. He fought at the Negba kibbutz. There the Germans and the British came through Egypt and he succeeded in beating them. They succeeded to attack Ramala with the help of Balo camp. After the military he married Zehava and immediately Izik was born. He went to Brazil, there Baruch was born.11 years later all the family returned to Israel and a couple years later Zehave gave birth to Moshe. Ben Zion's job in Israel was a truck driver of cloths and after that he stopped working and retired. Now he is a proud father and grandfather with six grandsons.
