On April 7th, 1943, the Gestapo rounded up 1,100 Jews in a forest near the village of Plebanówka, Poland and shot them. The Germans and their accomplices used bloodhounds, burned down houses and destroyed walls and floors in their attempt to uncover hiding places. Holocaust survivor Jacob Hellner and his family were a few of the village’s Jewish residents who managed to evade being captured. When I visited Hellner in his home, he shared his story of survival.
“I was born in Plebanówka on October, 27th, 1935. My father’s name was Israel Hellner and my mother was Dvora Kahanah Hellner. I had a younger sister, Betty, who is now deceased. When I was born, Plebanówka was part of Poland. Following Germany’s occupation of Poland, Plebanówka became part of Ukraine. My father was a glazier who was skilled at cutting, installing, and removing glass. Due to his position as a well-respected businessman, my father connected with several of the village leaders. My father was also educated and would keep people up-to-date regarding world news by reading the newspaper to them. What I remember fondly, prior to the war, was my mother thoroughly washing the floors in our home as she prepared for Shabbat. We weren’t religious, but did follow the traditions and prayers.”
Hellner recalled the start of the war.
“After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, the lives of the country’s Jews were constantly threatened. My father was marched down the village’s main muddy road and rounded up with other Jewish men in the center of town. I recall that all of Plebanówka’s roads were made of mud. Due to the unpaved streets I can’t recall ever seeing a car when I was a child, only trucks. My mother was very smart and resourceful. After my father was apprehended, my mother proceeded to sit on a town official’s front stoop and managed to get my father released. As more Jewish people were being rounded up, my father knew we would have to hide if the family was to have any chance of survival. We first hid in an underground shelter in our home. After fleeing Plebanówka, my parents, sister and I hid in a cattle stable. When my parents would leave the barn to search for food they always walked backwards so their footprints would appear to be leaving the structure as opposed to entering it. My parents were very resourceful. We would never have survived without their quick thinking. My sister and I would often look out at the children playing with the animals wishing we were free like them. I recall the time German soldiers investigated the barn by poking sticks through the hay and stomping on the ground with their boots. Through some miracle my family wasn’t discovered. After leaving our hiding place in the barn, my family hid in an abandoned factory that manufactured bricks. We also hid in other locations until the war ended.”
Hellner reflected on life following the war.
“After the war, my family returned to my grandfather’s home that was occupied by my uncle. I remember playing in an abandoned German tank with other children my age and my mother being worried I could hurt myself. Russians loved whiskey and vodka, so my father provided for us by selling alcohol. My family tried to live a life of some normalcy in those post war years as we traveled to Hungary, Austria and eventually to Italy for three years before sailing on a former military vessel bound for New York. After arriving in America, my family lived in Far Rockaway (Queens) where my father found work as a window cleaner. After living for a while in Brooklyn and the Bronx, my father decided to buy a poultry farm in Vineland, New Jersey. My family was among a significant number of Holocaust survivors (most of them Polish and Ukrainian Jews) who settled in Vineland and other southern New Jersey towns to try and create an American facsimile of their lost eastern European communities. After a few years of living on the chicken farm, my father decided to move back to the Bronx where he went into the window cleaning business. After serving in the US Army, I took over my father’s business and moved to Queens. I married my wife, Chava. We have a son and daughter.”
Hellner shared his words of wisdom.
“As a Holocaust survivor, I have learned to take one day at a time. Unfortunately, my children are seeing the same hate and antisemitism I experienced. I never thought this would happen again.”
