Names Not Numbers

Shmuel Aksler

Sanok, Poland

In Hiding

1938

Shmuel Aksler

Sanok, Poland

1938

Shmuel Aksler was born in June 1938 in Sanok, Poland, just before the outbreak of World War II. Shortly after his birth, the Germans occupied his town and began rounding up the male population. His father was beaten but managed to escape, finding refuge in the house of a Ukrainian woman. To avoid detection, he cut off his beard, transforming his appearance from that of a traditional Hasidim.

When he reunited with his family, his children didn’t recognize him due to his altered appearance.

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As the situation worsened and the Germans began targeting women as well, Shmuel’s father decided to flee to the Russian-controlled side of Poland, where his own father lived. His grandfather, however, had assumed the worst, believing his son had already been killed in Sanok.

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Life under Communist Russia proved extremely difficult, making it hard to survive, and Shmuel’s father briefly considered returning to the German side of Poland. When the family went to the train station, hoping to travel west, they were instead forced onto cattle cars that transported them to Siberia.

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Shmuel spent two years in Siberia, and his earliest memories are from this harsh period.

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Seeking to escape the brutal cold and draw closer to Israel, the family joined a group of Poles in the Polish Army and headed south toward Persia. By 1943, they had settled in Uzbekistan. After the war, Shmuel was taken to England, while his parents and younger sister were relocated to a displaced persons (DP) camp in Germany. Eventually, the family immigrated to the United States.

Names Not Numbers

Shmuel Aksler

Shmuel Aksler

The End