Lunch ‘n Learn with Rabbi Jeremy Barras
Fighting for Freedom: A Conversation with 100-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Jack Waksal
Interviewed by Hagit Zadok Fefferman
Jack Waksal, born Yitzhak Wakszal on September 15, 1924, in Jedlińsk, Poland, was the son of Schlomo David and Pessa Wakszal. His father was a kosher butcher and active in the Jewish community. After the Nazi invasion in 1939, Jack’s family was moved to Kruszyna labor camp, where he escaped in November 1941. He later rejoined his brother Yechiel in Pionki labor camp, where he also met his future wife, Sabina Koslowska.
In May 1944, Jack and a group, including Yechiel, escaped and hid until liberation by the Russian Army in January 1945. After the war, he returned to Jedlińsk to find survivors, reuniting with Sabina and his uncle Moshe. The rest of his family perished during the Holocaust. Jack and Sabina then moved to Germany where they married in the Regensburg displaced persons camp on April 28, 1946. Their son Samuel was born in Paris in 1947. The family immigrated to the U.S. in November 1950, settling in Dayton, Ohio.
Hagit Zadok Fefferman:
Hagit Fefferman is the granddaughter of two Holocaust survivors. She serves as a speaker for 3GMiami and as a docent at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach. A member of Temple Beth Am and a graduate of its Day School, Hagit has presented her grandmother Rose B. Silberberg’s Holocaust survival story to thousands of students across Miami, sharing her message alongside survivors like Jack Waksal to combat hatred and promote understanding.
Click here to read Jack’s memoir, Yitzhak’s Journey: Holocaust Survivor Yitzhak Waksal’s Memoir
Please RSVP to Janice Baisman at [email protected] to let us know if you are coming! Light snacks will be provided, feel free to bring your own lunch!
