| Notes |
- Joseph was born in Ostrowiec, Poland, into a hasidic family. His Hebrew studies commenced at the chaider when he was only 3 years old. Later in his childhood Joseph learned Polish at a local primary school and under private tutelage he studied Yiddish in the evenings. Joseph's curiosity and passion for reading led him to question his father's hasidic customs and he adopted a more progressive stance towards religion as a young adult.
When World War II broke Joseph left for Russia, but he did not adapt to life there and soon opted to return to his hometown where he found work at a forge. Joseph and his family managed to evade the first deportation of jews to Treblinka, but in 1941 his mother fell ill with typhoid and passed away.
Joseph was taken to Auschwitz in 1944, where he pretended to have experience as an aviation engineer (prisoner number B4880). The following year he was forced to march for 7 days and 7 nights to transfer to Mathausen. Finally he was taken to Gusen II (St. Georgen) in Austria where he was liberated by the Americans on May 5, 1945.
After spending a few months in Austria recovering, Joseph traveled to Italy with the intent of migrating to Israel. While there he discovered that one of his sisters had also survived the war and so he changed his plans and returned to Poland to visit her. It proved to be a fortunate decision, for in Poland not only did Joseph reconnect with his sister, he also met his sister's fellow Auschwitz survivor, Golda Borenztain, with whom he married in 1946.
Joseph had three brothers who had traveled early to Brazil to escape the ordeals of the war and so the newly weds decided to cross the Atlantic ocean to join them. While awaiting their travel documents in Munich the couple had twin babies, Yehuda (Julio) and Chawa (Eva), and the family arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 1949.
In his first year in Brazil, Joseph worked as a traveling salesman despite not knowing a word of Portuguese. Eventually he established himself as seller of bicycle parts and accessories, a job he performed until his retirment in 1982.
Joseph passed away in Rio de Janeiro in 2011.
FYI: during WWII Joseph lived / was admitted to the following: Ostrowiec Ghetto (Kielce/ Poland); Mauthausen KZ (Austria); St. Georgen KZ (Austria); Starachowice KZ (Poland); Auschwitz II-Birkenau Death Camp (Poland); and Ostrowiec KZ (Kielce/ Poland)
FYI2: Joseph was born in March 1918. Brazilian documents state May 1918 out of a miscommunication at immigration.
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1918 - 2011 (93 years)
