Kestenberg Archive

SR was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1930, she was one of 4 siblings. Her Parents immigrated from Poland to Belgium and all of her siblings were born there. SR's family were assimilated Jews who identified themselves primarily with Belgium culture and values. SR's father grew up religiously in Poland but left in order to escape entering the army. SR was 9 years-old when the Germans invaded Belgium in May, 1940. Before the war started SR went to public school. Two of SR's brothers died by the time the war broke out; one died in infancy from Polio, and the other at age six from Polio and Pneumonia . SR's mother endured an operation for breast cancer at the initial start of the war. While she was recovering, the family tried to leave Belgium and went to the border of France in 1940. The family got as far as Dunkirk, France and but couldn't go further because they were caught amidst the battle there between the Germans and French. The family then tried escaping the fighting in France by walking on the roads and sleeping on French farms. SR's family got on a boat on the border of Calais, France headed towards England, yet the family never reached England because the boat turned around and dropped them off in Belgium. Once the family returned to Antwerp, the family walked on the road for weeks and slept in more farms. That was the first time SR encountered German SS soldiers. SR's mother died a few months after the family once again returned to Belgium. The family moved into an apartment that her uncle owned in a heavily populated Jewish neighborhood and her father began to work again. They had curfew, needed to wear yellow stars, and were sent to work in German factories. SR and her brother joined the World Zionist Organization in Belgium at the time. Her father then sent SR and her sister to an orphanage for Jewish children run by Queen Elizabeth of Belgium and the International Red Cross of Europe near Brussels, Belgium. ; The orphans were meant to be transported to Auschwitz but the Queen of Belgium saved them and the children returned to the orphanage. SR's brother saved the sisters lives by taking them out of the orphanage one night. All the other children were taken a few days later by the Gestapo. SR and her family went into hiding with a Belgium family in a small town called Niel, outside of Antwerp in 1942. They hid there in the attic for 2 years. the family occupied themselves during that time with learning the dictionary, writing poetry, and listening to the radio. The family left hiding when they heard in 1945 the Americans came to Normandy, but then needed to run to the American lines when they realized the Americans retreated from their town in Niel. They were liberated and fed by the Americans. After the war, the family returned to Antwerp, Belgium where SR's father was in high in demand because of his profession as a Diamond Appraiser. SR returned back to school briefly in Belgium. Soon after the war ended, SR and her older sister and brother received certificates to go to Israel through the Youth Aliyah group. They traveled with the Jewish Brigade from Belgium to Marseilles, France and then onto Israel. They traveled on a boat called the Mataror with 300 illegal people to Israel. Their arrival date was September, 1945 and they immediately stayed in a camp in Atlit, near Haifa. SR's brother was picked up by the Israeli underground and SR and her sister went to a Kibbutz called, Kroll Pinot. They worked half a day and studied half a day Hebrew and Israeli history, geography etc. During the Israeli war of Independence SR and her siblings were part of the Israeli underground and learned to use weapons to defend themselves. SR eventually left the kibbutz because she wanted to study nursing. She then went to work part time in an infirmary with infants in Atilt and studied infant nursing in Haifa. ; SR's brother was picked up by the Israeli underground and SR and her sister went to a Kibbutz called, Kroll Pinot. They worked half a day and studied half a day Hebrew and Israeli history, geography etc. During the Israeli war of Independence SR and her siblings were part of the Israeli underground and learned to use weapons to defend themselves. SR eventually left the kibbutz because she wanted to study nursing. She then went to work part time in an infirmary with infants in Atilt and studied infant nursing in Haifa. SR then went into the Israeli army and worked for the Mossad translating and censoring military letters. After the army, SR married a man who was born in Germany and came to Israel prior to the war, at age 7. She then worked as a nurse in Hadassah Hospital. They had one son and one daughter and moved to the USA because of her husband's studies.