Aaron Elster's Story | Voices of Survival

A Childhood in Hiding: Aaron Elster’s Journey Through War and Survival

Aaron Elster, born 1931 in Poland, spent his childhood in the shadows of war. From a ghetto escape to two years in an attic, he survived in hiding, guided by the will to live and the heroism of a Polish couple who kept him alive.

Life Before the War

Aaron was born in Sokołów Podlaski, Poland, to Chaim Sruel and Cywia (Szczerb) Elster. His parents ran a butcher shop serving mostly the local Polish community. Aaron grew up with two sisters, Irene and Sara, in a household that balanced family life with the rhythms of their shop.

A sepia-toned, head-and-shoulders portrait of Aaron's mother, with dark, styled hair. She is wearing a dark, striped V-neck garment over a light-colored high-collared shirt. The photo has a textured, linen-like finish and scalloped edges. — Aaron's mother

A grainy, high-contrast vintage black-and-white photo of Aaron's father wearing a flat cap and a light-colored shirt. The image is slightly blurred and has a worn, tattered left edge. — Aaron's father

My childhood before the war… I remember going to Hebrew school. I remember playing soccer in the streets. … It was fairly normal.

A formal studio portrait of a man, a seated woman, and a younger woman standing beside her; the seated woman holds an open book while the others pose solemnly. — Aaron Elster's grandparents Mordechai Scherb
(left) his wife Masha (center) and one of their 12
children, Malka (right), pre-World War II- Poland.

A detailed vintage topographic map from the interwar period showing the town of 'SOKOŁÓW PODLASKI' and its surrounding villages like Karlusin, Bachorza, and Bartosz. The map features contour lines, roads, railway tracks, and wooded areas. — Sokołów Podlaski's town park

A large formation of German soldiers in World War II-era uniforms and steel helmets march in unison, carrying rifles with fixed bayonets over their shoulders. — German soliders march into Warsaw, 1939

Terror Begins

On September 7, 1939, German air forces execute bombing raids on Sokołów Podlaski, targeting civilian areas.

German troops occupy the town on September 20. Three days later, they burn the main synagogue and loot Jewish homes and businesses. The town's population includes nearly 4,000 Jewish residents.

When Germany invaded Poland the bombers came over our town and we all went into the forest. I never saw an airplane before. I was laying on the ground between the trees. The thunderous noise was unbelievable. The bombs falling on our town, I never experienced that. The earth would shake. It was such a fearful experience.

Three German Junkers Ju 87 — German dive bombers.
Poland, 1939

Restricted Lives

Upon the establishment of the ghetto, Aaron and his family are required to remain in their one-room apartment as its location fell within the designated boundary. The family's butcher shop, previously located in the non-Jewish sector of the town, is now subject to the relocation orders. His parents are compelled to move the business into the restricted ghetto area, where they continue its operation.

Aaron's mother wearing a coat and headscarf stands behind his sister Sara and his cousin, Chana. His mother rests her hands on their shoulders, outside a wooden building. — Aaron Elster's mom with sister Sara (right) in Sokołów ghetto. Aaron's cousin, Chana Scherb, (left) is ultimately murdered in Treblinka.

I remember being very restricted. I couldn’t go to certain parts of town that I used to go. Food became a problem and my parents did everything they possibly could to feed their children. Little by little, it got worse and worse.

Former site of the entrance to the Sokołów Podlaski ghetto taken in 2009

Sokołów Podlaski ghetto entrance. Circa 1940 (left) and the same location in 2009 (right). Drag the slider to compare the historic photograph with the present-day view.

Sealed Behind Walls

The Sokołów Podlaski ghetto confines over 5,000 Jews to a radius of five to six city blocks. High brick walls, topped with shards of broken glass, are built around the perimeter.

Cramped conditions and extreme overcrowding lead to famine and a sweeping typhus epidemic spread throughout the ghetto. Aaron notices people being taken away and not returning.

The one thing I remember most about the ghetto is seeing dead people. Walking the streets of the ghetto as a youngster, seeing dead people lined up against the walls, or against the sidewalk. Then I started seeing children my age, some dying, some dead and that created a tremendous fear in my soul because I was concerned that, will I be next?

A Difficult Decision

Rumors of killings spread quickly through the ghetto. Aaron’s parents’ sense that danger is closing in. Desperate to save at least one of their children, they reach out to former customers and friends, Hipolit and Franciszka Górski. After anxious deliberation, the Górskis agree to help. Aaron’s older sister Irene is smuggled out of the ghetto and taken to their home.

Two older gentleman, Hipolit and Franciszka Górski sit side by side outdoors, facing the camera, with trees behind them and their hands resting on their laps. — Hipolit and Franciszka Górski

I believe my parents knew what was going to happen to us all. They wanted to save at least one child out of the family because to save a whole family was almost impossible.

A grainy, historical black-and-white photograph of a small, one-story brick building with a sign on the roof that reads 'TREBLINKA'. Two chimneys are visible on the roof, and a few indistinct figures stand to the left of the structure. — Jewish men, women, and children
board trains during deportation to
the Treblinka killing center. 1942.

A somber black-and-white historical photo showing a group of people, including several young children in the foreground, standing on a train platform next to wooden cattle cars. A uniformed soldier with a rifle stands guard among the crowd. — Treblinka Deportation

Aaron’s Escape

During the “liquidation” of the Sokołów Podlaski ghetto, Aaron, his parents, and his younger sister Sara, join other men, women, and children in hiding behind a double wall in the attic of their apartment building. Their refuge is soon discovered. The German SS begin firing into the hiding place, forcing people out and marching them toward the market square. In the chaos, Aaron’s father urges him to run. Taking his advice, Aaron slips away and manages to escape the ghetto.

I was crying and asked my dad, 'what should I do' and he said, 'run.' He said in Yiddish 'Loyf! Aaron, Loyf!' And he told me to run to where my sister Irene is. So, on my hands and knees I crawl to the back of market square and crawl through mud and the sewer and ran.

A modern color photograph of a well-maintained, single-story cream-colored house with a brown gabled roof. The house is surrounded by a chain-link fence and a row of tall green hedges along the sidewalk. — Former Górski home (2014)

An interior view of a dark, rustic attic with exposed heavy wooden rafters and a brick wall in the background. The floor is covered with old fabric or tarps, and a simple wooden slatted bed frame lies in the center of the space. — The original attic space as it looked in 2014

Survival in the Attic

Aaron flees, spending several weeks scrambling for shelter between farms and the forest, even risking a desperate return to the abandoned ghetto. He finds his final refuge with the Górskis. Their offer of a few days expands into two silent years hidden in their home.

The attic, windowless and dirt-floored, becomes his entire world—a world of stark deprivation. Unable to bathe or brush his teeth, infested with lice, and often hungry, Aaron’s existence is one of unbroken silence. He rarely sees his sister Irene.

When the rain came, the rain would pound on the steel plates of the attic roof and make such horrific noise that I would be able to scream, I’d be able to cry, I’d be able to sing. I was able to let my emotions reach the sky.

Water droplets falling from an aluminum ceiling, with soft, out-of-focus highlights creating a blurred, abstract effect.

A black-and-white studio portrait of two children, Aaron and his sister Irene, as well as their Uncle Sam sitting while all wearing heavy coats and winter hats, standing closely together and holding hands, with visible creases and wear on the photograph’s surface. — Aaron with his Uncle Sam and
his sister Irene. circa 1945/1946

War’s End

The end of the war brings new danger: Soviet bombing damages the Górski house. Mrs. Górski, taking refuge in her basement, will not allow Aaron and Irene to join her, instead hiding them in her chicken coop, where they are forced to stay for nearly seven days. Their makeshift shelter fails when Ukrainian soldiers, passing through the town and seeking food on their journey home, stumble upon and discover the hidden siblings.

A vintage, grainy black-and-white photograph from 1945 of Aaron sitting on a dark ledge or railing outdoors. The background shows the blurred facade of a multi-story city building in Lodz. — Aaron Elster, Lodz, Poland, 1945

Liberation was anti-climatic for me. I understood or knew we weren’t going to die anymore or be killed by the Germans but my anticipation for what life was going to be was not to be. I had no family. I had no home and frankly nobody care about me.

A black-and-white rural landscape with rolling fields, scattered trees, and a hillside in the distance, viewed from an elevated vantage point with a telephone pole in the foreground.

a Composite image showing Aaron Elster postwar in DP Camps, in his soccer team uniform, and with other boys on a roof at a DP camp in Germany. — LEFT - Aaron postwar - DP Camps.
MIDDLE - Aaron Elster poses in his
soccer team uniform in the Neu Freimann
displaced persons camp. RIGHT - Young
boys hanging out on a roof at a DP camp
in Germany, Aaron Elster is among them
in the bottom left.

A Temporary Home

At 13 years old, Aaron arrives in Germany and spends two years living in Displaced Persons camps in Fürth and Neu Freimann.

There was food. There was freedom and it was also a place of transition. …Everybody wanted to go someplace, so you waited it out. You lived there in the hopes that soon you’d be able to go somewhere and establish a permanent life.

A candid, vintage black-and-white photo of a group of children playing outdoors. A young girl in a light-colored dress waves at the camera while several boys, including Aaron (second from right) pose with energetic expressions. — Children play outside in the Neu Freimann
displaced persons camp. Pictured second in
from right is Aaron Elster. 1946

A vintage sepia-toned studio portrait. Aaron's sister Irene sits in an ornate, fringed velvet armchair, flanked by Aaron standing to her left and the sibling's Uncle Sam sitting on the arm of the chair. — Irene is seated with Aaron standing
behind her, and their Uncle Sam to
the right. Late 1940s.

A Future in America

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), an organization sponsoring orphans, sponsors Aaron and his sister Irene, allowing them to immigrate to the United States. They arrive in New York City aboard the SS Marine Marlin. They live in New York for a short time before moving to Chicago. There, they are eventually placed in an orphanage and then a foster home.

A vintage black-and-white photograph of the SS Marine Marlin, a large transport ship, docked at a pier. The ship's name is visible on the bow, and an American flag flies from the stern. The image captures the scale of the vessel used for post-war immigration. — SS Marine Marlin. June 1948.

When I came to America, I was impressed with everything that existed around me and I desperately wanted to become part of the scenery, part of the life that existed in this country. It was a revelation to me. It was something that I never had, and here I had the possibilities of having a good life and nobody trying to kill me.

A vintage black-and-white photograph of Aaron sitting in the driver’s seat of a military Jeep. The vehicle has 'U.S.A. 950295' printed on the hood. The setting is an outdoor military camp with tents and utility poles in the background. — Aaron - Korea

Army, Marriage, and Family

Aaron is drafted into the U.S. Army and becomes a supply driver during the Korean War. He marries Jackie that same year in February, and they later welcome two sons.

LEFT - A vintage black-and-white photograph with scalloped white borders showing a Aaron and Jackie dressed for a formal event. Jackie is wearing a light-colored, full-skirted tulle gown with a sweetheart neckline and a sash at the waist. Aaron is standing slightly behind her with his arm around her, is wearing a dark tuxedo with a bowtie. They are both smiling at the camera in a room with floral-patterned curtains and a satin-upholstered sofa. RIGHT - A black-and-white studio portrait of Aaron's two sons sitting close together. The older boy on the right is grinning broadly, wearing a zip-up shirt with a small crest, while the younger boy on the left has a soft, neutral expression. — LEFT - Aaron and Jackie - Chicago
RIGHT - Aaron’s two sons.

I’ve learned the expression that everything is fair in love and war. And I was at a party in one of my friends’ homes and everybody brought a girl and this friend of mine brought Jackie and I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. I was smitten. … Later on I met her in downtown Chicago and I asked her for her phone number and she gave it to me. It’s been over 66 years.

A color family photograph from the late 1960s or early 1970s. Aaron's wife Jackie (left), Aaron (right) and their two sons (center) pose on outdoor wooden steps wearing cowboy hats. Jackie wears red patterned trousers, and the children wear cowboy boots, capturing a playful — Aaron and Jackie Elster with their
2 sons on vacation, circa 1960s

Righteous Among the Nations medal. The reverse side of a bronze medal featuring a central globe being lifted by a rope. At the bottom, several hands are shown reaching through and pulling apart strands of barbed wire. A semi-circular Hebrew inscription surrounds the globe and hands. French text on medal is a quotation from the Talmud - 'Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.' — Righteous Among the Nations Award

A Righteous Honor

Hipolit and Franciszka Górski receive the prestigious honor of Righteous Among the Nations from Yad Vashem. They are given this recognition for hiding Aaron and his sister Irene during the Holocaust.

My mother gave me birth, but Mrs. Gorski gave me life.

A close up view of the Righteous Among the Nations medal.

Aaron’s Legacy

Aaron goes on to have a successful career in the insurance industry. A loving grandfather of three, Aaron serves as Vice President of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center for nearly two decades and shares his story of survival with tens of thousands across the globe. His memoir, I Still See Her Haunting Eyes: The Holocaust and a Hidden Child Named Aaron, is dedicated to his little sister Sara, who was murdered in the gas chambers of Treblinka. Aaron passes away in 2018 at the age of 86.

Blue overlay on top of image of Aaron shaking hands with a young girl.

I would like future generations to know my story, what I overcame to survive as a lesson to them that they can overcome all kinds of adversity and that I made some impact on somebody's life. That's my desire.