World

Emotional Journey

Holocaust survivor reunites with Polish family who saved his life.

Esther Allweiss Ingber
Special to the Jewish News

Left: Maciej and
Zofia Dudzik of
Czajkowa, Poland,
sheltered Zygie
and Sol Allweiss
on their farm.

T

hose who survived the Holocaust
sometimes attribute it to luck.
Certainly, it was "luckier" to be
an able-bodied Jew between ages 12 and
40, not much younger or older, when
Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939.
Along with luck, however, came an
individual's emotional toughness, adapt-
ability and unrelenting will to survive. My
dad, Zyga Allweiss, 79, of West Bloomfield
is one such person — thrust into the
upheaval at a physically fit age and with
resourceful attributes. I am proud to have
shared a special journey of remembrance
with him last September.
I first visited Poland in 1985. Some 21
years later, in the post-Communist era,
I returned with my father to record his
experiences on video. Dad, best known as
Zygie, decided he could safely visit Poland
after my positive experience. He regretted
not planning the trip earlier so he could
have gone with his dear brother Sol who
died in August 2004. Following a hospi-
talization the next year, Zygie decided the
trip should not be delayed.
He wanted to see Jaslany, the shtetl
(village) where he was born. Located in
southern Poland, Jaslany is about 10 miles
northwest of Mielec, the nearest town. The
Allweisses included father Jacob, a horse

Yom HaShoah Programs

The Holocaust Memorial Center and
Shaarit Haplaytah will present the
annual city-wide Holocaust Memorial
Convocation at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 15,
at the Zekelman family campus, 28123
Orchard Lake Road in Farmington Hills.
A highlight of the afternoon will be
when Holocaust survivors and their
families light candles in memory of the
6 million Jews who perished and also
in memory of Israel's victims of terror.
New this year will be a performance
by "Spring: The Intergenerational
Choir" from the Jewish Community
Center in Oak Park. The choir was
started in 1994 by young girls and
women from the former Soviet Union
as a way to help them assimilate into
American life. The members sharpen
their English skills through song and
remain in touch with their roots by
performing in Russian, Hebrew and

Right: Janina and
Janek Dudzik flank
Zygie Allweiss,
whom they hosted
with Zygie's
daughter Esther
Ingber last year
at their home in
Mielec, Poland.

trader; mother Esther, a homemaker; five
sons and four daughters. The family's sole
survivors were Zygie and Sol, 12 and 14
respectively when the war began.
Maciej and Zofia Dudzik let the broth-
ers stay on their farm near Jaslany for
more than a year during the war. In 1943,
their father advised them to seek out his
Catholic friend Maciej, saying: "He would
never betray you." Little did he know their
families would be entwined for genera-
tions to come.
Before the war, Jacob Allweiss purchased
and registered three land parcels. Decades
later, once he had proven ownership, son

Zygie intended to sell the land to the
Polish government and use the proceeds
to achieve several goals. One purpose was
to give money to surviving Dudziks in
Poland.
Zygie and Sol were reunited with the
family in 1999 via a Dudzik granddaugh-
ter's Internet search. Barbara Rzeznik of
Chicago said the Dudziks always feared
the boys hadn't survived. Our families in
America have remained friendly to this day.
The Dudziks risked their lives and those
of their eight children by sheltering Zygie
and Sol. The most notable incident was
when Zofia Dudzik deflected a German sol-

dier to the barn, moments before he could
remove the last bundle of hay separating
him from the brothers hiding in the stable.
Asked once why her parents didn't
send the brothers away, Ania (Dudzik)
Olszewska of Detroit replied, "My father
said, 'These boys are good boys, and they
should not have to die.'"
While in Poland, Zygie purchased a
microwave for Marysha (Dudzik) Pluta, a
widowed daughter from the family. When
it comes to the Dudziks, Zygie strongly
maintains: "Whatever I could do for them,
would never be too much:'

Yiddish as well as English.
Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig will deliv-
er the memorial address. The event
will end with the lighting of yahrtzeit
(memorial) candles near the Center's
eternal flame, followed by Kaddish.
• At 7 p.m. Monday, April 16, CHAIM
– Children of Holocaust-Survivors
Association In Michigan – will host a
Yom HaShoah program at the Jewish
Community Center in Oak Park.
A candlelighting ceremony will take
place with Holocaust survivors, their
children and grandchildren.
Holocaust survivor Zygie Allweiss
and his daughter Esther will talk about
their recent trip to Poland to meet
with his Polish rescuer. A video pre-
sentation will follow.
The community is invited; there is
no charge. The program is sponsored
with the Jewish Community Center,
Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring and the

Program for Holocaust Survivors and
Families.
For information, call Dr. Charles
Silow, (248) 661-2999, ext. 299.
• A community-wide Yom HaShoah
program featuring Holocaust survivor,
author and lecturer Gerda Weissman
Klein will start at 7 p.m. Sunday, April
15, at Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Southfield.
Klein's story of living through the
Holocaust and ultimately marrying
Kurt Klein, an American intelligence
officer who liberated her is told in
her autobiography, All But My Life.
Her newest book, A Boring Evening at
Home, is a collection of uplifting sto-
ries and memories that drive home the
importance of friends, family and love.
The event is sponsored by the
Morris and Beverly Baker Foundation
in memory of Morris D. Baker, the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan

Detroit, the Shaarey Zedek Men's Club
and Cultural Connection.
• "Ghetto Tango," an evening of
cabaret music of Holocaust resistance
featuring Adrienne Cooper and Zalmen
Mlotek, will be presented at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 18 at the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield.
During the Holocaust, Jewish caba-
ret musicians in ghettos resisted by
creating performances out of their
experience of separation and longing,
hunger and homelessness, corruption,
deportation and murder. This is their
music.
Tickets are $10 in advance; $10 for
seniors age 60 and older and students;
$15 at the door. Call (248) 432-5577,
ext. 7.
The concert is sponsored by the
Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic
Studies, the JCC and Workmen's
Circle-Arbeter Ring.

Emotional Journey on page 26

April 12 • 2007

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