Faces of the Survivors: Preserving Memories

Izak Goldfinger: Holocaust Survivor

Izak Goldfinger, was just 14 years old when his quiet life in a Polish village was shattered by the Nazi invasion. Forced into gruelling labour, Izak Goldfinger’s skills as a stone mason and his unshakable faith became his lifelines through unimaginable horrors. From brutal beatings to narrowly escaping death in 11 labour camps and Auschwitz, his strength to endure came from the words of his mother: “Believe, and we will meet again after the war.” Izak’s story is one of survival, resilience, and hope—a reminder of the human spirit’s capacity to persevere even in the darkest times. Itzak’s story was instrumental in founding the work of Helping Hand Coalition that today reaches out to the thousands of survivors living in Israel.

Paulina Levy Mendel

Paulina Levy Mendel: My name is Daniel Rozen, and I live in Jerusalem, Israel with my wife and daughter. I’d like to talk about the Holocaust—a deeply painful and difficult topic for every Jewish family.

My family are Polish descendants from Galicia, specifically from a small area near Kraków called Kazimierz. For more than a thousand years, Jewish people lived in Poland—longer than in any other country. At one time, no nation offered such comfort and peace to the Jewish people.

My grandmother’s name was Paulina Levy Mendel, and my mother’s name is Nili Rozen. Both were sent to a ghetto in Poland where they experienced horrible conditions. Then later on they were deported to Auschwitz, the infamous concentration and extermination camp.

My grandmother endured unspeakable hardships in Auschwitz. However, because she spoke Polish, she was given slightly better treatment. She worked in a tailoring unit, repairing Nazi uniforms.

One day, a Catholic nun who secretly visited the camp approached her. This nun offered to smuggle my mother out of Auschwitz. My grandmother initially refused, insisting she couldn’t let her daughter leave without her. But eventually, she relented, giving the nun her only possession of value—a ring with an emerald that she had hidden in the ground—to save her child.

The nun smuggled my mother out, who was a young child at the time and took her to a monastery, where she was hidden in an underground storage area for pickles and tomatoes. In March 1945, after four months in hiding, my mother and grandmother were reunited and then smuggled across the border into Ukraine.

After the war ended in May 1945, my grandmother decided to return to Poland, hoping to reclaim her home in Kraków. However, she soon learned that many returning Jewish survivors were killed by Polish locals in pogroms. Heartbroken, my grandmother fled back to Ukraine.

People often say that the Jewish people are “chosen by God.” But being chosen comes with immense suffering, sacrifice, and responsibility. We are chosen to endure, to overcome, to connect with the land of Israel, and to be a light to the nations. It is not an easy title to bear.

From my father’s side, there is little to share. His entire family perished in the crematoriums. The only tangible reminder of my family’s Holocaust experience is a small yellow Star of David that I keep to honour their memory.

We are determined to be a blessing, to carry the light of God to every corner of the world. We teach our children not to hate—not the Arabs, not the Muslims, not anyone. Instead, we teach them to be a living testimony of resilience, faith, and hope.

Our family’s story is just one of millions. And yet, it reminds us of the importance of saying, “Never again.” Never again should such horrors occur.

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