New York – Holocaust Survivor Celebrates 100th Birthday in Brooklyn

New York – It probably never occurred to Jafa Wallach that she would live to be 100 years old.

In the summer of 1944, she didn’t know if she was going to live another minute.

To avoid capture by the Nazis, she, her husband Natan and his two brothers were hidden in a 6- by 4-foot hole beneath basement floor boards in a mechanic’s workshop in southwestern Poland.

During the last desperate days of the war, the Gestapo, in search of ammunition, radios, anything of use, were digging in the basement where the Wallachs were hiding, a mere 6 feet away from them. “The tension in our hole was indescribable,” says Jafa.

Ultimately, the soldiers gave up, throwing down their shovels with the words “zum Teufel” (to the devil). Shortly thereafter, Jafa and her companions were finally able to emerge into the sunlight when the Russians retook the area. It was some time before she could walk again. They had been hiding for 22 months, in a space too small for them to stand or walk.

Of the 30,000 Jews in the Galicia region of Poland, they were among 80 that are estimated to have survived.

And Jafa survives still, along with her daughter Rena, who, during the war, hid under the guise of being the Christian niece of a forest watchman in Bezmiechowa until she was reunited with her parents in 1944.

On Monday, Jafa Wallach celebrated her 100th birthday at the Ateret Avot retirement home in Midwood.

“Jafa survived, but she also thrived,” said Ateret Avot Recreation Director Alan Magill, who estimates that between one-third and one-quarter of Ateret Avot’s residents are Holocaust survivors. Brooklyn is believed to have the largest population of Holocaust survivors in the country, with approximately 29,700 as of 2002, according to a United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York survey.

Surrounded by her daughter, grandson, great-grandchildren, cousins and nephews, Jafa sat beaming from her wheelchair on Monday, festooned with balloons, flowers and a piece of birthday cake as big as her head.

“It’s an honor to know Jafa, because in this world where there is still so much conflict and hatred, I know that there is light,” said her great-granddaughter, Brianna, 20. “It’s an honor to know a woman of such grace, dignity and truth.”

Jafa is also a published author. Her memoirs, Bitter Freedom: Memoirs of a Holocaust Survivor, were published in 2006, though they were written shortly after she and her family arrived in New York in 1947. Her daughter Rena, who was the driving force behind getting the book published, contributed an essay to the book detailing her own haunting experience during the war.

Rena now often speaks at schools, museums and civic organizations, and in 2007 won the Hannah L. Goldberg Award for Jewish Education for her Celebration of Life project, which brought Bitter Freedom to 20 School Districts throughout New York State. The book has been published in Hebrew and will soon be released in Polish.

Polish Neighbor Saved Family

It was the selfless bravery of mechanic Józef Zwonarz that saved the Wallachs. It was he who hid them under his workshop and found a home in which to hide Rena. Jafa and her husband stayed in touch with him until his death in 1984, and advocated for his receiving an award from Israel’s Center for Holocaust Remembrance, Yad Vashem, in 1980.

Józef’s grandson, who recently converted to Judaism and lives in Israel, sent his birthday wishes to Jafa on Monday, which elicited more enthusiasm from her than everything else.

“It always nice to celebrate a 100th birthday … but we also celebrate the conversion,” said Jafa.

In addition to much of her extended family, Jafa lost her father, stepmother, a brother and three sisters in the Holocaust. Her husband Natan, who passed away in 1995 at the age of 90, lost his entire nuclear family — his parents and three sisters.

“Love prevails,” Jafa said on Monday, with her memoir on her lap and her daughter at her side.

“She’s one of the most optimistic people I’ve ever met,” said Rena.