My father, Moses (Moshe) Teitelbaum was a survivor and a savior. Born on November 18, 1917, to Fivel Shraga and Chana Roiza (Ettinger) in Modzitz, Poland, he was the youngest of six children. He was trained as a tailor and worked in Minsk. After the outbreak of the war, he returned to Modzitz to be with his elderly parents. In 1942, Modzitz’s Jews were transported to Treblinka, and while shielding his elderly father, his mother was snatched. In the next months, my father spent all his energies surviving and literally grabbing my grandfather off the lines headed for extermination. My grandfather died a natural death and was buried in Modzitz’s cemetery complete with Jewish ritual, his chief mourners, his son and family.
Moses Teitelbaum
Deplin, Poland