WHAT SALEK REMEMBERS:
Salek had an older sister named Dora and younger siblings, perhaps twins. During the war, the family together with a grandmother fled from Poland to the east and ended up in Kiev. In Kiew they decided to return to Poland, but were only ably to get to Lwow (today Lviv).

From Lwow/Lviv they then went to Zbarazh (107 km S of Rovno). The family stayed in Zbarazh. One day when Salek and his father were out of the house, the Germans came and took the grandmother, the mother and the other children. This supposedly happened during the last AKTZIA in Zbarazh.

When the Germans later came back for Salek and his father, the two of them managed to escape. Salek and his father hid in the surroundings of Zbarazh, living in the forest and probably joining the partisans. When the war was over, Salek and his father went back to Zbarazh, and from there they moved to Krakow.

In the beginning Salek lived in a Jewish Orphanage in Krakow. In the spring of 1945 he went with this orphanage to Zakopane, under their director Lena Kichler.

In March 1946 Lena Kichler and most of the children fled Poland on their way to Israel. Salek was part of a smaller group who did not join them, but returned to Krakow where he continued to live in Jewish orphanages.


TOMASZOW LUBELSKI or TOMASZOW MAZOWIECZI?
It is not clear where Salek's family lived - in Tomaszow Lubelski (88 km NNE of Przemysl) or Tomaszow Mazowieczi (45 km ESE of Lodz).
When Salek tried to find his birth certificate in Tomaszow Lubelski, there was no register for himself or his siblings.
In Tomaszow Mazowiecz there are birth registers for the years 1893 - 1942, so this will probably be the next step in the search.

THE FATE OF SALEK'S FATHER
It is not known what happened to Meir/Mayer Elbert AFTER the war.

MAIDEN NAME OF SALEK'S MOTHER
Ruchla Elbert's maiden name was probably Landau.

LIVING FAMILY MEMBERS
Are there any Elbert relatives alive?
Are there any living relatives from his mother's side?