Weitzner, Lea

Birth Name Weitzner, Lea
Also Known As Lachovich, Helena

    With the help of a Polish priest who ran the local orphanage, Mundek Feldman, Leah Weitzner's uncle, arranged for her to become Helena Lachovich.
    She spent the war years with Polish Catholics, Felix and Stephania Plawuszewski from Stary Sambor and Stephania Gosch from near Lublin - recognized as Righteous Gentiles by Yad Vashem.

Married Name פז, לאה
Call Name Helena
Call Name לאה
Gender female

Events

Event Date Place Description Notes Sources
Birth 1930 Львів Lviv, Львівська область, Україна  

Event Note

Leah Weitzner was the only child of a judge in the Polish government who died when she was five.
She grew up at her grandfather's estate in Kochavina, in Galicia.

Event Note

In September 1942, the Germans invaded Lea Weitzner's village, and hHer grandfather and uncle ran away.
Lea, her mother, and grandmother were rounded up with other Jews and stuffed into a cattle car heading east.

 
Transport September, 1942 Bełżec Vernichtungslager Belzec Extermination camp, Bełżec, powiat Tomaszowski, województwo Lubelskie, Polska Lea Weitzner, he mother, Gusta, and her grandmother were deported

Event Note

Lea Weitzner´s mother, Gusta, pushed Lea out through a narrow opening in the side of the train car.
Leah Weitzner survived being thrown from a cattle car destined for death, and made found her way back to her grandfather and an uncle, Mundek, who had escaped the deportation.

Event Note

Lea Weitzner uncle, Mundek, had lived in Mandatory Palestine, but had come back to introduce his fiancée to his family and got caught in the war.
He was determined to save Lea, and acquired false papers for her, and taught her Christian prayers and customs.
Lea Weitzner lived with the Plauszewski family, and then with a relative, Stefania Gos, whose husband was a commander in the Polish underground.
She survived three years of lying about her identity, while living with Catholic families in Poland,

 
Boat     Lea Wetzner sailed to Palestine, but was arrested by the British and interned in Cyprus

Event Note

Leah Weitzner's uncle, Mundek Feldman, encouraged her to eventually emigrate to Palestine.
"After the war, never go anywhere except Palestine," he coached her. "Always go towards Italy, because from there you can get to Palestine. Always go towards the sea."

 
Camp   Καράολος Gazimagusa Karakol Karaolos Internment Camps 55-62, Mağusa bölgesi, Κύπρος Kıbrıs  

Event Note

During a demonstration by the internees, Lea Weitzner was wounded by British police gunfire.
Her story was published in the Jewish press in Palestine, and her relatives on kibbutz Merhavia discovered that she had survived.
She was reunited with them when she was finally allowed to immigrate to Palestine.

 
Boat 1947 פאטריה SS Patria Lea Weitzner sailed from Bari to Palestine.

 
Marriage     Ephraim Paz married Lea Weitzner

 

Parents

Father Weitzner, Herman
Mother , Gusta

Narrative

Lea Weitzner describes rescue by Righteous Among the Nations

Pedigree

  1. Weitzner, Herman
    1. , Gusta
      1. Weitzner, Lea

Ancestors