Jack Waksal, Holocaust Survivor

Jack Waksal is a survivor of the Holocaust and author of the memoir Yitzhak’s Journey. He was born as Yitzhak Waksal on September 15, 1924 in the town of Jedlinsk, Poland, where he lived with his parents, his brother, and two sisters. 

Soon after Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 the Nazis, with help from the Poles, burned the town’s synagogue, and established the Jedlinsk Ghetto. Jack and his family were confined there until 1940 and later deported to the Kruszyna forced labor camp. As the camp was liquidated, Jack’s father, mother, and two sisters were murdered. Jack escaped and survived alone in the forest for about a month.

In December 1941, Jack secretly entered the Wsoła labor camp, where he was reunited with his brother. They remained there until the end of 1942, when they were deported to the Pionki labor camp. In May 1944, Jack and his brother escaped from Pionki. Jack survived in the forest for several months, narrowly escaping death multiple times. His brother was shot and killed by the Nazis in December 1944.

On January 15, 1945, Jack was liberated by the Red Army and worked for them until the end of the war. Jack was the sole survivor of his immediate family. After the war, he reunited with his childhood friend Sabina Koslowska whom he later married in the Regensburg Displaced Persons Camp.

Today, Jack is the proud patriarch of a large family that includes three children, seven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren, a lasting legacy of survival and resilience.