RelatioNet MO ST 32 PL RO
Moshe Stern
Holocaust Project Katzanelson High School
Kfar Saba-Israel
Mail: relationet2014@gmail.com
evishmool9@gmail.com
libimar1234@gmail.com
First Name: Moshe
Last Name: Stern
Date Of Birth:
City Of Birth: Ploiesti
Country Of Birth: Romania
The City Ploiesti
Ploiesti is the capital city of Prahova County in Romania which was founded by Mihai Viteazul (Michael the Brave), Prince of Wallachia in the 16th century. It is located 56 km north of Bucharest and its area is about 60 skm. Ploiești is an important transport center, linking Bucharest with Transylvania and Moldavia. During World War 2, the Ploiești region was one of the world's leading oil sources, which was used for the needs of the Nazi Germany. Therefore, the city was considered as an important strategic target for the attacks of the Allies. Ploieşti was captured by Soviet troops in August 1944.
The Jewish community was documented only from 1700, when Sephardic Jews established a synagogue and a cemetery.At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, a strong Jewish elite developed in town, consisting mainly of businessmen involved in extracting oil. As a result, the Jewish community developed and its economic power increased.
Ploieşti was also home to a strong and colorful system of Jewish education. At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, strong Jewish elite developed in town, including mainly of businessmen involved in extracting oil.
Before the war began (1930) the number of Jews in Ploieşti was about 4000 people.In 1940, during the rule of the Iron Guard, a group of Jews were arrested and executed, including the Hasidic rebbe, David Friedman. Later, persecution of the Jews in Ploieşti grew even more brutal, in large part. In 1941, all Jewish men (aged 18 to 60) were arrested and expelled to the concentration camp of Teiş. They were released six months later, but were forbidden to return to Ploieşti. In 1950 just 2,000 Jews lived in the town.
Moshe's Interview
Moshe Stern was born in 1932 in Ploiesti (Romania) to a wealthy Jewish family. He had one sister, eight years older than him. His parents, his father, Isaac and his mother, Hanna, owned a fabric and clothing store.
Moshe and his sister
Isaac and Hanna
Before the war, Moshe was a cheerful and naughty child. He remembers how the gentiles were jealous of his parents' successful shop. His father was a cantor in the local cemetery. On Saturdays, the family hosted Jews who came to listen to the only radio in area.
Moshe in his childhood
In 1941, it was forbidden for Jews to take the train. Moshe's father, Isaac, had received a false command from the Nazis ordering him to arrive to the Jaws' concentration area. He took the train to the city, because it was the only way to get there. On the train, there were two more Jews who got the same message. Nazis, who had seen the Jews, stopped the train and took them to an open filed which was nearby. One of the Nazis commanded the three of them to dig their own graves. After that, he hit two of them on the head with his gun and told the third to run as fast as he can. They let him live.
One of the Jews who were murdered there was Moshe's father. The Jewish survivor went to Moshe's family in order to tell them where the father Isaac has been buried. The tragedy was so unbearable that Moshe's mother Hanna, tried to kill herself (twice) with a shaving knife, while the 6-year-old boy, was watching. From a happy and cheerful child, Moshe had turned into a serious and mature man.
After that, Moshe and his family left the city Ploiesti. Moshe tells that his mother was a very good trader and it allowed her to earn money for the family.
After that, when Moshe was 14 years old, he boarded a ship with more Jewish children to immigrate to Israel as part of the youth immigration. But when they got to Israel the British army sent them to Cyprus. It was winter, the boys and the girls slept together in a tent on the floor. The conditions were not easy almost impossible. .After Cyprus, in April 1947 he moved to Israel and joined a youth movement in Pardes Hana and later he went to a boarding school "Mikve Israel", where he learned Hebrew.One night, Moshe got caught while he was working without permission. He started crying to the guards and told them that he works to finance his mother when she would come to Israel. As a result, he was the only one who got permission to work at night.
When his mother immigrates
to Israel Moshe gave her the 50 "Lirot" he earned, so she could buy a
place for her and his sister to live in. They bought an apartment in Petah
Tikva.
Moshe and Funny met at a party in Rishon
Letzion on the 17 of October when he was 27 years old and she was 21 years old.
Moshe asked her phone number and she gave it to him. Moshe had instantly fallen in love with funny
instantly and on the 14 march they got married. After one year of education,
he graduated and started working in the police, because his mother knew the
head of the department.
Moshe and Funny
Moshe started working in a classified department. Most of the police men didn’t know Hebrew, so Moshe was the best Hebrew language speaker. He was working in Contact Office and processed Secret telegrams. During his Duty in the police, He took apart in the "six-day-war", and the "Yom Kippur" war.
Moshe on his duty
Before he left his work place, he had got a Certificate of appreciation for his outstanding work he has done over the years. Moshe has worked in the police for 30 years. After Cyprus, in April 1947 he moved to Israel and joined a youth movement in Pardes Hana and later he went to a boarding school "Mikve Israel", where he learned Hebrew.One night, Moshe got caught while he was working without permission. He started crying to the guards and told them that he works to finance his mother when she would come to Israel. As a result, he was the only one who got permission to work at night.
Moshe and Funny met at a party in Rishon
Letzion on the 17 of October when he was 27 years old and she was 21 years old.
Moshe asked her phone number and she gave it to him.
Moshe had instantly fallen in love with funny
instantly and on the 14 march they got married.
After one year of education,
he graduated and started working in the police, because his mother knew the
head of the department. Moshe started working in a classified department. Most
of the police men didn’t know Hebrew, so Moshe was the best Hebrew language
speaker. He was working in Contact Office and processed Secret telegrams.
During his Duty in the police, He took apart in the "six-day-war",
and the "Yom Kippur" war. Before he left his work place, he had got a
Certificate of appreciation for his outstanding work he has done over the years.
Moshe has worked in the police for 30 years.
Moshe and funny volunteer in "Yesh",
a nonprofit organization which support holocaust survivors. They have two daughters
and 3 grandchildren and they all live in Israel.
