
The last witness has passed. Samuel Villenberg, the last living survivor of Treblinka, has passed at the age of 93. Treblinka was a Nazi death camp where an estimated 1 million men, women, and children were murdered.
Samuel escaped Treblinka in the 1943 prisoner revolt.‘The plan was to break in the weapons storage, distribute all the weapons and make a run for it. I put on two pairs of trousers, and a jacket in preparation. We all felt excited, yet we were all silent, waiting. It was an exceptionally hot day, and many of the Germans went to the nearby lake for a dip after lunch. That was when we attacked. There weren’t enough arms for everyone – people fought for the guns. Suddenly, we heard a thunderous explosion from the garage. Tongues of fire soared over the trees coming from the gasoline drums that the prisoners had set alight. We all started screaming ‘Hoooraaaah!’ and running towards border of the camp. I felt a bullet in my leg – I looked down as my shoe filled with blood. But I carried on running. When the pain in my leg grew too bad, I knocked on the door of a house, and asked the man inside to help me disinfect it. The Polish man inside the house decided to help Samuel. Samuel went on to survive and move to Israel. He leaves 3 grandchildren.
Samuel Villenberg. The last witness. May his memory be a blessing.
I am grateful for social media so I can connect to people from all walks of life and all over the world. Whenever I see posts about hatred for Israel or the Jewish people, I respond with facts, history, and a line of open communication. What inspires me and pushes me to keep strong in using my voice to stand tall and proud as a Jew and a source of information for people who may not know the whole story, is to reach one person, then it is all worth it.
I had a student in one of my Yoga classes that was Hispanic American, and had no background on the Middle East conflict. During the war with Gaza, because of my blogs and posts, she reached out to me to get the Jewish point of view. Today another woman, was wondering why nobody was engaging me in conversation when I was opening up myself to educate and be the voice of the Jewish people and Israel.
This is what irks me.
Thank You For Reading, Listening, Learning, and Sharing,
Coach Yulia