97-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor: 'I Always Had Faith in Hashem; I Believed He Would Help and Protect Me'

At the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, an emotional gathering took place last night (Monday) as part of Zikaron BaSalon, where Holocaust survivor Arnold Wolkowicz, 97, shared his memories as a child who hid his identity, studied in a monastery, and managed to survive the inferno. At the end of the evening, he was presented with a certificate of appreciation and a modest gift.

The evening opened with remarks by the head of the Begin Heritage Center, Ariel Cohen. Wolkowicz then recounted his story as a Jewish child forced to live under a false identity, under the constant fear of exposure and the threat of death, fighting day by day for his life. His moving testimony presented a harrowing story of loss and courage, alongside the strength of the human spirit and the ability to rise even from the greatest hardship.

"I walked around for an entire year with two forged identity papers; it was very hard," Wolkowicz said, as black-and-white photos of him as a child during the Holocaust were projected on the screen behind him. "Once, when I went on leave from the monastery with friends, a boy who knew me yelled to me on the bus: 'What is this? You aren't wearing your yellow badge?' I panicked—my legs were shaking."

"It was life-threatening to be identified as a Jewish child in the monastery," Wolkowicz added. "I am amazed by what I went through—it is unbelievable; I don't know how I survived." He emphasized that what strengthened him was faith: "I always had faith in Hashem. I prayed every night under the blanket, in the monastery, after everyone had gone to sleep. I believed that Hashem would help me and watch over me."

After the testimony, Ariel Cohen, head of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, presented Wolkowicz with a certificate of appreciation and a gift, and thanked him for the privilege of hosting him. "His testimony is evidence of the power of the human spirit to rise above the inferno," Cohen concluded.

וולקוביץ עם ראש מרכז מורשת בגין, אריאל כהן (קרדיט צילום: מרכז מורשת בגין)