Thread by @Israel

My name is Itzik Yaakobi, son of Olga and Yaakov Elimelech, brother to Klari (all of blessed memory), survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau, number B.11057.

This is my story.

#HowItzikSurvived

📸 Yediot Achronot

I was born in Debrecen, Hungary to an ultra-Orthodox family.

Under my father Yaakov Elimelech's direction, I spent my childhood studying religious and Jewish texts.

My fondest memory is studying the weekly Torah Portion with my father.

📸 @MakorRishon

This is my father of blessed memory who perished in the #Holocaust.

#HowItzikSurvived

While many of my childhood memories have been obliterated by the trauma I experienced during the #Holocaust, I remember Yulia, our non-Jewish housekeeper who I was very found of and who would give me double portions of Gefilte fish.

📸 The synagogue in Debrecen

When I was 13, the Nazis came to power in Hungary & forcibly moved all Jews into ghettos.

The conditions were unbearable. There was little food.

The Nazis purposely fed us pork (forbidden by Jewish law). My mother made me eat it because we were starving. I vomited it up.

From the ghetto, we were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

I arrived with my grandfather Zeev. We stood in front of the infamous Nazi, Dr. Mengele, the Angel of Death.

I was a young fourteen year old boy and refused to leave my grandfather.

📸 My prisoner card from Auschwitz

I heard a voice call out "Ervinke"(that was my Hungarian name) go to the right!

It was my cousin Poli. My grandfather told me to listen to him. Poli saved my life.

My grandfather was sent to the left. That was the last time I saw him.

#HowItzikSurvived

📸 @MakorRishon

I was sent to the "Kinder Lager", known as the child camp.

We were subjected to unimaginable horrors.

It was there that I became close friends with Elie Wiesel
who was also a young boy at the time.

📸 World Economic Forum

Like me, Elie came from a religious family and both of us had photographic memories.

We studied the Talmud together, specifically the tractates of Bava Kama, which I can still recite by heart today.

#HowItzikSurvived

📸 @MakorRishon

The time I spent in Auschwitz- Birkenau was horrific.

I owe my life to my cousin Poli who is still alive today at 94. He worked in a Nazi commander's home and smuggled portions of bread to me through the camp’s barbed wire.

This is a photograph of my prisoner number B.11057

In 1945, as the Red Army was approaching the Nazis evacuated the camp and forced us on a death march.

This is one of my most haunting memories.

#HowItzikSurvived

📸 @MakorRishon

In 1945 our camp was liberated by the 71st regiment of the @USArmy.

Our stomachs were so weak that the Americans did not permit us to eat large amounts of food.

I remember seeing General Eisenhower shortly after liberation. I didn’t know any English but I managed to say hello.

After liberation, I found out that my entire family had been killed. My sister Klari & my mother had managed to escape to Switzerland where they were granted asylum.

When they crossed the border and were told that they were free, both of them died from cardiac arrest.

I had no home and no family to go back to.

I emigrated to Israel in 1947 and enlisted in the Givati brigade of the Israeli army. I fought in the War of Independence and lost all sight in my left eye.

After the War of Independence, the second chapter of my life began.

I spent the rest of my career in the public sector, serving as Deputy Director of the Prime Minister’s Office & became Teddy Kollek, the mayor of @Jlm_city's right hand man.

#HowItzikSurvived

📸 @MakorRishon

Throughout my life, I've made it my mission to share the story of the #Holocaust with leaders & individuals from around the world.

These are some of my favorite photos:

1) Kirk Douglas & I (father of @KDouglasMichael)
2) George Bush & I
3) @HillaryClinton & I

#Neverforget

I am grateful to have built a beautiful family: my children Yael & Eli, my three grandchildren Noam, Lala, and Nofar & a great grandchild on the way.

I have been blessed with a wonderful partner Leah who has brought so much light into my life.

📸 My children and grandchildren

People often ask me about my experiences in the Holocaust & to be honest they’re so beyond human comprehension that I sometimes have trouble believing my own story.

I ask that you help keep my story, the story of six million alive today and when we are gone.

#HowItzikSurvived

Thank you for listening to my story. I am here to answer your questions.

#HowItzikSurvived

Thank you for all of your warm comments. They mean a lot.

I am here to answer your questions. Please use the hashtag #HowItzikSurvived.

For those of you who are just joining me, my name is Itzik and I'm a Holocaust survivor.

You can ask me questions about my experience by using the #HowItzikSurvived.

Thank you for helping me keep the memory of my family and the millions of Jews killed alive.

I was just told that more than 100,000 people have seen these tweets and I am very moved.

I am so appreciative to all of you who are sharing these tweets and my story -Itzik

#HowItzikSurvived

I would like to add that I ran into Elie Wiesel some years later in Israel when I took my grandchildren for ice cream.

He called out my name and we embraced.

There is another memory I would like to share. I once met Bruno Kreisky, the Chancellor of Austria when I worked with Teddy Kollek.

I told him about the Austrian woman who refused to spare some bread and called me a dirty Jew during the death march.

He cried.

I will be answering questions for the next hour (it's evening here in #Israel) so please feel free to ask me anything before we end this campaign- Itzik

#HowItzikSurvived

I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to listen and share my story today.

I ask that you please take this final message to heart and honor the memories of those who were killed by never forgetting and always remembering

With Love,
-Itzik

📸 @MakorRishon

And on a final note, I would like to remind all of you that you can still find happiness in life. Even in the small things.

For example, I am signing off to watch @FCBarcelona and @fundacionmessi play Rayo Vallecano - Barça, tonight and this makes me happy.

Be well.

-Itzik