By the end of the Holocaust, Mendel Weinberger, born December 16, 1929, in Munkács, Czechoslovakia (now Ukraine), was the sole survivor of his entire family.
His daughter, Chaia Weinberger, proudly chose to keep her father’s last name even after she married, carrying on the legacy of miraculous salvation and Jewish continuity that continues to fuel their family with purpose.
“My father was just a teenager when he was deported to Auschwitz with his parents, Clara and Joseph, older brother Anschel, and younger siblings Esther, 9, and Shalom, 2,” Chaia shares. “When they arrived, his mother, sister, and brother were sent to one side, and my father, who clung tightly to his father, was separated and sent to the other side. He didn’t want to leave his father’s side, but another prisoner took his hand and implored: ‘You need to survive.’ Driven by those haunting words, my father decided to fight for his life with every bit of energy he could muster.
“Time passed and the day came when my father was selected for the gas chambers. Chaos and terror erupted around him, with guards beating any prisoners who resisted. My father, however, decided to accept his fate. He stripped off his clothes, placed his hands on his head, and began to recite the Shema prayer as his last words.
“Miraculously, just as he finished the Shema, a German officer entered the gas chamber with an abrupt command that he needed 50 boys for labor. Perhaps because my father had been praying in those last moments rather than fighting, he wasn’t bloodied or beaten like those next to him. He still looked fit to work, and the officer selected him as one of the 50.
“My father remembered that moment forever. He was given exactly one minute to grab clothes and shoes from the chaotic piles on the floor and get out. He grabbed two completely mismatched shoes, any scrap of fabric he could find, and rushed toward the exit.”
In the frantic scramble, one extra boy managed to slip into the group, and 51 boys walked out that day.
This is how the second chapter of Mendel’s life story began.
Starting Over
Weak and malnourished, Mendel was left barely clinging to life after the final death march, but miraculously, his life was spared once again, and he was liberated by American troops.
“The soldier handed my father some chocolate, but the rich food made him and the other severely malnourished survivors incredibly ill, and he had to be hospitalized. Once recovered, the Jewish Agency got involved and sent him to Paris, where he was given a choice of where to go.
“My father could have immigrated to America to be with his aunt, but he chose a different path, deciding that since he had survived, he was going to help build a Jewish homeland. He joined the underground resistance, the Irgun (Etzel). His journey to the Holy Land was arduous, including time spent in a British detention camp in Cyprus, but he finally made it. He fought bravely in the nation’s early wars, fiercely dedicated to defending the country he loved.”
When he was 23, Mendel married Bracha, a woman who would become the love of his life and his wife for nearly sixty years.
They and their two daughters, Chaia and Judy, lived on the moshav that Mendel helped found—Kfar Aviel—until the family moved to the United States for a lifesaving surgery.
During his time in Auschwitz, Mendel had sustained a severe beating that left him with a deep ear infection. Years later, it worsened, and Israel’s early medical system wasn’t yet equipped to handle complex surgeries. A cousin in New York, who worked as a nurse for a prominent ear, nose, and throat specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital, realized his life was in danger.
The family in America scraped together the funds to bring the family of four across the ocean by boat. The surgeries in New York saved his life, though Mendel lost most of his hearing in one ear. He rebuilt a beautiful life for his family in America, but his heart never truly left Israel.
In 1991, Chaia’s sister, Judy, returned to Israel with her four children and continues to live there today. Chaia and her husband live in Las Vegas, and their children live in New York and Israel.
Final Years
In 2010, while living in Florida, Mendel was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Realizing his time was short, he expressed his final wish to take his last breath in the Holy Land. Judy packed him up, navigated international travel with his wheelchair, and brought him home.
Just one month later, on October 2, 2010, the 24th of Tishrei, Mendel Weinberger returned his soul to his Maker, more than 65 years after being locked in the gas chamber on the verge of being murdered.
Chaia feels that her father continues to bring blessings into the lives of his family members.
“My father always lived with joy and a smile. He loved to help others and brought positivity to the world around him. Despite the unimaginable loss he suffered early in life, he never lost his ability to love.
“My father’s most precious mitzvah was prayer. He was always there to help with the minyan and felt the responsibility of helping other people connect to G‑d. His voice was so powerful, and listening to him made us feel that his prayers were ascending straight to Heaven.
“In fact, when he was already very ill with cancer, at almost 82, he asked to be wheeled downstairs to the shul on the first floor so he could participate in the prayers. He never forgot that moment in that gas chamber where he said Shema prayer, an affirmation of G‑d’s unity that was supposed to be the last prayer of his life.”
Chaia’s Story
Chaia shares another remarkable chapter of her story:
“Every Shabbat for the past 16 years, my friends and I have attended Chabad of Summerlin in Las Vegas for Shabbat services. I love this community and have made so many wonderful friendships there. Fourteen years ago, on Shemini Atzeret, I went to Chabad to say Yizkor for my beloved father.
“The service was led by a Yemenite gentleman, Ori, a visitor I had never seen at the Chabad House before. After the service, I said a few words in Hebrew to my friends. Ori heard me and asked about my ability to speak Hebrew. I explained that I was Israeli and had grown up in Brooklyn.
“I shared my father’s incredible story of being one of the 51 boys who survived the gas chamber in Auschwitz. Ori was fascinated by my father’s survival and asked where in Israel I had lived. When I told him, he said he had lived only ten minutes from my village. Later, we discovered that my father had actually worked for Ori’s father, David, before my parents were married.
“The following year, on Rosh Chodesh Elul, Rabbi Shanowitz married us at the same Chabad House where we met. We have shared 13 beautiful years together and continue to feel that our fathers somehow made our match.”
“Our father did well with that one chance to live,” Chaia continues. “He left a legacy of smiles, positivity, purpose, kindness, connection to G‑d and unconditional love for the people in his life.”
May the memory of Menachem Mendel ben Yosef Leib be a blessing, and may his soul have an aliyah.
In tears over this beautiful story of love and survival. Thank you! Baruch HaShem!