Boruch Balaj

Date of birth

05/15/1915

Where were you born?

Koretz, Russia.

Koretz, Russia/Poland

Name of father, occupation

Tevye Balaj

Maiden name of mother, occupation

Mayta Mindess

Immediate family (names, birth order)

Tevya Balaj (father); Mayta Mindess Balaj (mother); Babel Balaj Gershman (sister); Malka/Dotzia Gershman (niece); Chayka Balaj (first wife); daughter (name?)

How many in entire extended family?

Seven on the Balaj side, and many on the Mindess side

Who survived the Holocaust?

My father, Boruch Balaj, was the sole survivor of his immediate family. My father is the only survivor on the Balaj side of the family. Many uncles, aunts and cousins on the Mindess side of the family survived, most by having emigrated to Canada, Israel and the US before the war. Names of those who were killed: Tevya Balaj (father); Mayta Mindess Balaj (mother); Babel Balaj Gershman (sister); Malka/Dotzia Gershman (niece); Chayka Balaj (first wife); Daughter (name?); Shmuel Balaj (uncle); Matl Balaj (aunt); Alek/Alik Balaj (first cousin); Shifra Balaj (first cousin); Khasia/Chasia Balaj (cousin?); Chantza/Hansya Mindess (aunt); Golda Mindess (aunt); Beila/Bayla Mindess (aunt); Tseyse/Tzesia Mindess (aunt)

Where were you in the Former Soviet Union?

When Russia invaded Poland, my father was conscripted into the Soviet army and then deported to a labor camp in Chelyabinsk, Siberia

What DP Camp were you after the war?

Displaced Persons camps in Salzburg, Austria; Wetzlar, Germany; and Wasseralfingen, Germany, American Zone

Where did you go after being liberated?

Back to Koretz, which had become part of Ukraine, USSR

When did you come to the United States?

November 7, 1949, arriving in New York on the US military ship, the General Harry Taylor

Where did you settle?

Detroit, Michigan

How is it that you came to Michigan?

A close family friend from the town of Koretz where my father grew up, Adya Kurland, sponsored my mother and father

Occupation after the war

Small business owner

When and where were you married?

Chelyabinsk, USSR on November 5, 1945

Spouse

Manya (Maria) Waskobujnik Balaj, Homemaker

Children

Daughter (name? age? killed in the Holocaust); Theodore Balaj, Seymoure Balaj, and Barbara Balaj

Grandchildren

Andrew Balaj, Erica Balaj Baer, and Michelle Balaj. Three great-grandchildren: Jagger, Willow and Noah.

Interviewer:

Biography given by Barbara Balaj

Interview date:

07/03/2022