Kestenberg Archive

HL, the elder of two children, was born in 1928 in Lodz, Poland. His father was an accountant. The family lived in the Lodz ghetto from May 1940 to August 1944. At first, he continued attending school. As the years passed, he started working as a furrier. In 1944, he was moved to Auschwitz-Birkenau. His mother did not survive the selection. HL and his father started working. One day he passed out and could not work anymore. The Germans took him to a hospital near Gross Rosen. In this hospital, the Germans conducted experiments on the patients. A few weeks before the end of the war, the Germans took HL back to the camp. He reunited with his father, but his father died shortly afterwards. In February 1945, he was moved to various sub camps in Gross Rosen concentration camp: Kaltwasser, Shutenhauer and Dörnhau until the Russians liberated him. After the Russians liberated him, HL went with a friend to Czestochowa, where they heard Jewish organizations took care of Jews. HL went to Lodz and found no relatives. He met Harry Kushner, a high ranking member of Gordonia, who persuaded him to join Gordonia as a guide. There, he met his future wife. HL made his way with Gordonia to Eretz Yisrael. The group crossed Austria and reached Selvino, Italy. In 1947, HL, together with 50 other Jewish youths, boarded a British cargo plane and landed in Beit She'an. He was sent by Youth Aliyah to Avuka. After a while, he moved to Kfar HaMaccabi. There, he reunited with his future wife. They went to live in Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra and got married. They have two girls. HL refused to visit Germany. He and his wife told their girls a little about their Holocaust experiences. HL testified that he has suffered from anxiety since the holocaust.