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Rivkah Tenenbaum and Mordechai Lustig on their wedding day

In April 1958, my uncle, Chaim Lustig from Brazil, and his wife traveled by boat to Israel. They stayed with a family from Sandz in Tel Aviv since our place was very small. The Lustigs brought us very nice gifts and bought a nice refrigerator for us. We visited our friends and had a good time with the Brazilian Lustigs. We really bonded with them.

November 30, 1959, was a very moving day for me and my wife. We gave birth to our first child. I could not believe my eyes. I, the Shoah survivor, had a son. What a wonderful gift to us. A few months prior to this event, I bought a Vespa scooter to give us a bit of mobility. I also made arrangements with a cab driver to be on call when the moment arrived. Soon enough, when Rivkah said that she wanted to go to the hospital, the taxi arrived and took her to the hospital where she gave birth to our first child. On the eighth day, our son was circumcised at the hospital and was given the name of Moshe Lustig. We had a small party at the ceremony. Later in the day, I took a taxi and brought home the entire family. Rivkah from Kibbutz Brenner came to help the new mother. Of course, we had made many preparations for the baby. It was a bit crowded but the joy of having a child offset all difficulties.

I urged Rivkah to stop working and to stay at home to care for the baby. I resumed my flooring work. I bought an attachment to the Vespa so that I could take the baby and my wife for rides in the area or to visit family. I used my Vespa to get to work at Holon and even gave rides to my supervisor, Itzhak Klein.

In 1960, the mass murderer Adolf Eichmann was kidnapped in Argentina and flown to Israel aboard an El Al plane. He faced Israeli judges in Jerusalem where he had to defend himself, for his life was at stake. He faced serious charges of atrocities against the Jewish people. The Israeli police and Justice Department began to prepare the case against Eichmann. Ads appeared everywhere asking people to step forward and give testimony against Eichmann. Witnesses stepped forward who had personally seen his heinous activities. Masses of documents were accumulated and translated into Hebrew for the trial. Extreme precautions had to be installed at the prison to protect the prisoner from

Adolf Eichmann on trial in 1961 in Jerusalem, Israel

The trial brought back sad memories of my past. I had a friend from Sandz who worked at the police prison where Eichmann was kept and he told us that all the policeman had to restrain themselves from harming the prisoner. I watched the proceedings and saw my past in front of my eyes. I kept reminding myself that I was there and managed by some chance or miracle to survive. I also found some satisfaction that the man was brought to justice.

Prior to the capture of Eichmann, I had filed the necessary legal papers that were prepared by attorney Appelbaum against the German state. I sued for health damages that occurred to me during the period when I worked for the German authorities. The preparation of the papers took a long time and finally in 1961 I appeared before a medical commission that the German government had established in Israel. The commission established that I had a 40% disability as a result of the forced labor imposed on me during the war years. In 1962, the German government started to pay a monthly payment as well as a retroactive sum for the years past. Rivkah was again expecting and our place was very small. I began to think of expanding our flat by another room. My neighbor Witkowski added a room, a hallway and a balcony. I was thinking of doing the same thing and began implementing the idea of enlarging my apartment. I was short of cash so I took a bank loan and started my project. Work soon stopped since I was called to the reserves. I was now assigned to the armored corps instead of the infantry unit to which I used to belong. I was sent to special courses and had to undergo training. I was then stationed at the Hatzerim military base. My stay did not last long for I was soon transferred to the signal corps that would be my permanent reserve assignment.

On August 17, 1962, Rivkah gave birth to our second child, a daughter. We named her Yehudit. We were very happy with our children. We felt that they were the answer to those who had tried to eliminate us from the face of the earth. The children brought us great joy but we were crowded. I continued to build my extension since I received German reparation money that helped cover the cost of my expansion. I added a room that became the children's room. Rivkah was busy with the children and I devoted myself to the outside of the house. I planted several fruit trees and two Canadian pines. I seeded some grass and fenced in the entire garden. Later, I had to redo the entire garden when the city widened the road and took some of my garden and my pines.

Part of the German compensation consisted of sending me to a health spa each year. Rivkah, the children and I went usually to the Kibbutz Maaleh Hamisha near Jerusalem. I took the family on my Vespa and traveled to the resort. We traveled all over the country with the Vespa and even reached Kibbutz Dafna in the north of Israel. From 1964–1967 I continued to work at a big housing project in Holon. I worked on the basis of piece work. I started to work very early and returned home early. On one occasion I ran into Mordechai Goldfinger from Sandz who lived in London but was visiting Israel. I started to talk to him and mentioned that I had family in London. I mentioned the name of Nathan Lustig with whom I was once in contact. Goldfinger immediately replied that he knew him and gave me his address. I wrote Nathan a letter and he replied. We renewed our mail contacts.

With the tension rising in the Middle East, I was called up for reserve duty and reported to the Hatzerim base. I was assigned to guard the large military base. I was promoted to sergeant of the section and served in this capacity until the end of the Six Day War in 1967. Following the war, my uncle, Chaim Lustig, came to Israel. He stayed with us and we toured the country and saw many Sandzer friends in Israel. He helped me buy a Fiat car and we used the car extensively. We visited Jerusalem, Rehovot, Majdal Shams, and the

Rivkah Lustig, her son Moshe Lustig and Mordechai Lustig celebrating the Bar Mitzvah of Moshe

In December 1971, we celebrated the bar mitzvah of our son Moshe at the hall named “Oasis” in Ramat Gan. For us it was a very festive occasion and we invited family and friends. In 1973, my Uncle Chaim arrived from Brazil with his wife Ruth. They stayed with us. Chaim helped me financially to purchase a car that served us well during the family stay in Israel. We traveled and visited many friends and relatives. Then I was called up for reserve duty with the civil defense forces. The Yom Kippur War began and I used my car extensively during the war. I patrolled large areas in Tel Aviv

Mordechai Lustig and son Moshe Lustig in the Israeli armed forces

In 1976, Moshe Lustig was drafted and I was called up for reserve duty. I was in uniform and so was my son. With the end of reserve duty, I started working on a big project in Ramat Aviv that was finished in 1979. I then started to work for the “Azorim” building company that built expensive apartments with different color tiles. The company insisted on high building standards and I had to work very carefully, especially with the ceramics that contained pictures. In 1980, we joined an organized tour of Europe. We landed in Rome, Italy, travelled extensively through the country, entered Switzerland and continued to Paris, France. We continued to Belgium and Holland, then returned to Calais in France where we took the ferry to England and reached London. Nathan Lustig and his wife received us nicely. We stayed with them for three days and enjoyed our stay. We then left for Israel.

From left to right; Mordechai Lustig, Rivkah Lustig and Nathan Lustig

In March1985, our daughter Yehudit Lustig married her boyfriend Ilan

Yehudit Lustig and Ilan Kaufman on their wedding day

Following the marriage of my daughter, I retired from work at the age of 60. I devoted myself to my father–in–law who needed extensive medical help. I also began to develop my old hobbies that I never had time to tend to, namely wood carving, playing the harmonica and the piano. Our first grandchild was born on April 1, 1981. He was named Alon. We catered a very nice affair for the occasion. Several years later, I was in Poland when our daughter gave birth to another grandchild who was named Lital. I had organized a party in Sandz, the place where my family was wiped out, to celebrate the rejuvenation of our family. My daughter's family continued to grow as she gave birth to Sivan June 13,1998. The following year, we celebrated the bar mitzvah of our grandson Alon.

In 1981, I received from the Israeli Defense Ministry a form that informed me that I was hereby discharged from all future military formations

From left to right: Mordechai Lustig, Aviva Kaduri, Moshe Lustig and Rivkah Lustig

I also became a member of the board of the retired Solel Boneh construction workers. I helped with the administrative chores and attended the various executive meetings. I became the chairman of the Sandzer landsmanschaft in Israel where I prepare the annual memorial ceremony for the Jews who were killed in Sandz by the Germans and their helpers. To keep myself physically fit, I joined a swimming pool to do exercises.

In 1989, Rivkah and I joined an organized trip to Poland. My first visit to the old homestead. When the group reached Krakow, we rented a car with a chauffeur who drove us to Sandz. On the way we stopped at the hamlet of Mszane Dolne and in our village of Slomka where my grandfather had lived. The house was gone; according to a neighbor, Franciszek Antusz, the house burned down during the war. The place is still empty. Franciszek remembered me as a child who had spent his summer vacations at the village. The neighbors received us very nicely. I spoke Polish with them. We established and maintain contact to this day. We then headed to Sandz where I visited the cemetery and the memorial for the killed Jews. I did not think, I just stood and cried; tears were flowing. We left Sandz and headed to Krynica, Fibnicza and Ritro where I worked after the liquidation of the Jewish community of Sandz. We continued our trip to Stary Sacz, Roznow where we built the dam on the river, and returned to our hotel in Krakow. I paid the driver 40 American dollars. I took pictures all along the trip. I was sadly disappointed in Sandz by the area of the former Jewish ghetto. Some houses were gone, others were changed. I did not get the feeling of being in the ghetto area.

At last, Moshe met and married Avivva Kaduri. They were married in August 2002. The wedding took place at the “Recital” hall in Ramat Gan. The Israeli television and radio personality Judy Moses photographed the entire wedding and then used parts of it in her television programs dealing with young couples. Of course, we also took our own pictures of the wedding. We were very happy that both of our children were happily married

Rivkah and Mordechai Lustig in Brazil

Luis took us to his farm, about an hour and a half drive from his residence in Sao Paulo. The place is located on top of an elevated plateau. There are two buildings there: one is for the caretaker family. The place grows vegetables, fruit and various trees. The main house has two bedrooms with toilet facilities, a kitchen, a sauna, a rest room and a swimming pool and a piano. In the city of Sao Paulo he has a building where his office is located. He also grows coffee plants. In San Magdelena he has a house where the apartments are rented to residents. The place is guarded. The family also has a summer home facing the sea. There we met his maternal uncle, Samuel Frukesh. Rivkah and I were also invited to a Friday night dinner at Ismael Kalpatz's home. The entire family was there. He has been recently widowed. We visited the cosmetic plant of Neta and Markus Silva. We also met

Rivkah and Mordechai Lustig with their grandchildren Ed and Omri

Alon Kaufman drafted into the Israeli army

In between the births of Moshe's sons, our oldest grandchild Alon was drafted in 2005 into the army. Third generation soldier of the State of Israel.

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