Wilenczik Family
My name is Chana Drucker, I was born in Vilna on 23.7.1946 (on my father’s birthday)
My late sister Rachel and I grew up in the home of Holocaust survivors but we were unaware of the sadness or depression that other people felt because of the war. An atmosphere of joie de vivre always permeated our home and all this just so that the girls should have a good life.ש
I grew up in Vilna and studied in elementary school until Grade 4. I recall that during my childhood years I felt anti-Semitism very strongly and I even hid the fact that I was Jewish. In Grade 4, when I was about 11 years old, my parents were issued permits to make Aliyah to Israel, and thus began the rush to make preparations, combined with the pressure and the fear that the non-Jews would discover what we were about to do.
Childhood in Vilna
My parents owned a clothing store in Vilna and our family was considered comfortable financially and lacked nothing. Although in Russia restrictions were placed on all sorts of commodities my father succeeded in obtaining (with his connections) the very best for his daughters, and did this without question, for a lot of money (something we were not short of at the time).
Aliyah to Yisrael
And then, finally, we received the permit to make Aliyah to Israel which we had been waiting for so long. We happily packed what we were allowed to, got on the plane and landed in Warsaw. In Warsaw we waited six weeks for the permit to continue on to Yisrael.
We boarded a ship called “Shalom” and, after a journey that took two weeks, we reached Haifa port on 8th May 1957
Adapting to life in Israel
Our absorption process was very difficult, as we had no language, no home and no money.
My parents, with two little girls, had to deal with difficulties to which they were unaccustomed. Initially, they asked the Ministry of Absorption to provide us a home in Jerusalem. The nearest location (that was suitable for new immigrants) was “Hartuv” in Bet Shemesh. We lived there for a few months without work or money, and with only minimal support from the Ministry of Absorption. But our hearts were full of joy that we had arrived in the country we had been longing for. Our parents were blessed with initiative, determination and a sense of purpose to provide their daughters with a better future, and with the help of friends, we moved to Bat Yam.
My father found work immediately at “Tnuva” (company for dairy foods) where he worked until retirement age. My mother found work as a cashier at the “Tzlil” movie theater, also working there until pensionable age. My sister and I started school and in no time we became inseparable from Israeli children.
Ever optimistic
My parents had many guests and friends visiting our home. My mother was a very good cook and was always having her friends over; a happy atmosphere pervaded our home, and we never felt we were growing up with parents who were Holocaust survivors.
After completing my studies, on the 8th October 1969, I married Boaz, with whom I had been in a relationship for four years. Subsequently, we had three gorgeous children: Sharon, Golan and Efrat, who grew up to be a source of pride to the State of Israel.
We have also been blessed with seven grandchildren: Shachar, Amit, Daniel, Maya, Nadav, Noa and Shai, who have provided us with the happiest moments in our lives.
Returning to Vilna – the town of my childhood
Some 50 years after I had come on Aliyah, I decided to pay a visit to Vilna - the town where I had spent my childhood. I joined a group of “March of the Living”, and it was a very moving and emotionally-charged experience. Afterwards I visited the different places in Vilna where I grew up. To my surprise, I found that Vilna had become a European city in every sense of the word.
Now, when I recall the difficult period I underwent during the process of making Aliyah, I am thankful to my parents who made the right decision to make Aliyah to Yisrael. And on this optimistic note, I conclude the story of my Aliyah to Israel.
Taken from: Heritage Stories – Human Treasures from the “HaKesher HaRav Dori” program (multigenerational connections)
My Grandfather was Silent /Written by Efrat Pinchas
Until this very day, I have never been able to find out if he kept silent in order to protect our feelings, or to protect himself. I will let you into a secret: sometimes silence speaks volumes. The intensity of the horrors is dwarfed by the resilience of silence.
My name is Efrat, third generation of grandfather Hanoch and grandmother Ida, who came out of the inferno, met each other and raised a family, my family. My grandparents met in the Ponar forest, where the most terrible murders were carried out. They had both gone there looking for family members and ended up finding each other.
We don’t have much information about what had happened to my grandfather during the war, since he chose not to share it with us. We can only speculate. We do know that he had joined the partisan brigades after the despots had butchered his family. We can see him in our imagination, a young man of 21, fighting to keep alive in the forests, threatening Lithuanian farmers with a gun just to get some food in order to live another day.
We can learn about the activities of heroic partisans from the stories of other survivors, and the history books which are very detailed, but here, we are trying to read between the lines as it was difficult for my grandfather to talk about what he had been through. He had a hard time distinguishing his memories from everyday life. This was most noticeable when he volunteered with the Association of Jews from Vilna. Every Monday, like clockwork, he would sing in the choir and carry out other volunteering activities, a tradition which my mother, Hannah, continues to this day.
Grandfather was a warm and loving man, very close to us, his grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, and was proud of the family he had established, as if in protest against the attempts to exterminate the Jewish people.
I would have liked to tell my children, Daniel and Shai, the heroic stories of my grandfather, in order to hand down these memories to their generation so that my grandfather should not be forgotten.
But my grandfather never told me.
My name is Efrat Pinchas, a third generation Holocaust survivor, the granddaughter of Ida and Hanoch Wilenchik, May their Memory be Blessed, Holocaust survivors thanks to whom I am here.
My grandparents never shared with us the horrors they went through in the Vilna Ghetto, hence, I was very excited when Hannah, my mother, invited me to join a roots trip to Vilna.
The trip took place on September 2016. I went out with a group of amazing people, most of them second generation Holocaust survivors, as well as four real heroes, Holocaust survivors I will not soon forget: Deborah Rosenzweig, Dr. Aharon Einat, Avraham Kammerman and Shimon Fayn.
My grandparents, born in Vilna, lost their entire family in the Holocaust. As a child, I had never heard the story of their rescue. I know my grandmother was in the ghetto and my grandfather joined the partisans, but they did not share with us what they went through, therefore this journey was very important to me. The fact that my mother was on the trip, sharing my experiences, intensified my excitement on the one hand, and my enjoyment on the other.
Together with the group, I visited cemeteries where murdered Jews are buried and the grave of the Vilna Gaon - beautiful, peaceful places that do not attest to the atrocities that took place in them. It is hard to believe that in these places so many children, women and men were deprived of their lives. I was especially happy to accompany my mother on a visit to the home where she grew up, and learn details about where she spent her childhood.
Throughout the trip, we heard the stories of the rescue of the survivors who accompanied us. Deborah for example, survived the inferno only thanks to the resourcefulness and strength of her mother. A story that sounds fictitious , but really happened, is the story of little Aaron and Abraham who were rescued several times from the Nazis when they hid in an attic with other children; and we heard from Ya'arit the story of her father's escape from the Ninth Fort in Kovna, a place where Jewish bodies were cremated.
The trip ended at Ponar on September 23 where was held the 73rd Memorial Ceremony in remembrance of the destruction of Vilna Ghetto. During the moving ceremony, I stood in front of the monument in memory of those who perished, and proudly carried the Israeli flag. At the end of the ceremony, I participated in lighting memorial candles in memory of the murdered.
Had I not joined the trip, I would never have heard all these stories, never have seen all the places where innocent Jews were murdered, and would never have known the history of the Vilna Community. This was the importance of this trip: to remember, and pass on to future generations.
I wish to thank Mickey Kantor, my dear friends on this trip, and especially my mother who gave me the opportunity and shared the experience with me.
Read Amit Alon's Roots Project
A letter of condolence written by Michael Schemyavitz to Hannah Drucker (Wilenchik) on the death of Hanoch Wilenchik 31/12/2007
We are saddened by the demise of your father and grandfather, Hanoch Wilenchik.
The Association of Jews from Vilna and Vicinity in Israel was orphaned by the passing of this loyal friend who donated his best years to Beit Vilna.
For decades since I accepted the chairmanship of the Association, Hanoch or Gank, as we called him, has been my right-hand in all the work carried out to maintain Beit Vilna.
In the heat of summer and the rains of winter, he did not leave his post; he opened Beit Vilna, taking care of its cleanliness and function. He was the one who placed hundreds of memorial plaques in the Memorial Hall, and now, we have placed a memorial plaque in his and his wife Ida's name in the memorial room.
Please send our condolences to the whole family on behalf of the entire Vilna Community, the management and all those who cherish his memory.
May you know no more sorrow and grief.
Michael Schemyavitz, Association Chairman