Yoram Shaaf photograph collection

Yoram Shaaf (born Jurek Finkelsztajn) was born on July 31, 1941, in Zdołbunow, Ukraine (near Rovno), to Mendel Finkelsztajn and Malka Finkelsztajn (nee Sztajnberg, 1917-1955). Yoram was one of eight siblings, only Eliasz and Judka survived the war. Mandel and Malka fled Skarżysko-Kamienna, Poland in September 1939 and settled in Zdołbunow. They married in 1940. In 1941 Malka, Mendel, and Yoram were forced into a ghetto. In September 1942, probably during the liquidation of the ghetto, Malka Finkelsztajn escaped the ghetto, taking her young son with her. They reached Brześć and found a safe haven with the help of Jan Plećko, his wife, Franciszek Celeda, and Jan Brzozowski. Jan and Franciszek obtained a false birth certificate for Malka under the name, Helena Andrzejczak. Malka and Yoram hid in Brześć until April 1944 when they moved near Vilna and later Borzynowo, Poland until liberation in March 1945. Mandel was last seen by family members in 1946. Malka kept her assumed name, Helena Andrzejczak and settled in Lodz, Poland with Yoram. Yoram moved to Warsaw, Poland and married Anna Kowalska in 1962 and they had two sons: Daniel and Yaron. In 1968 the family left Poland and moved it Israel.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Yoram Shaaf

The photographs were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Yoram Shaaf in 1999.