Harold Perlstein
"We need to be sure that Israel is secure or we may have another Holocaust. Be proud of all we Jews have accomplished in spite of all the adversity we have endured. Keep Judaism alive. Treat people as you would like to be treated."
Name at birth
Hershel Perlstein
Date of birth
02/05/1914
Where did you grow up?
Sarny, Ukraine
Name of father, occupation
Joseph Perlstein,
Grocery store business
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Dvora Sher Perstein,
Sold good to farmers from the grocery store
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents and five children: Chaya, Sara, Toby, Motel and Harold
How many in entire extended family?
60
Who survived the Holocaust?
Just me and my sister Chaya, who settled in Israel
Harold Perlstein was born in Sarny, Russia in 1914. His father was Hershel (Tsfi) Banalasek. There were five children in his family. He had one brother, Max and three sisters: Sarah, Hika and Dobbie. He was the youngest. His grandparents also lived with them.
His paternal grandparents were Josef and Dvora and his mothers parents were Bubbie and Yitzchok Sher.
Harold lost sixty members of his family during the war.
There were thirty Jewish families in his village of around two hundred thousand people. The Perlsteins lived in a small apartment and his father was a grocer. During an early incident, his father was beaten by the Polish police and died shortly thereafter.
Harold went to Polish school for three or four years and finished at the age of thirteen. He had no Jewish schooling, but learned prayers from his grandparents. On Shabbos, his mother made a special holiday meal. She called Harold her “beautiful boy.”
His mother was paralyzed on one side of her body. Nevertheless, she owned a grocery store close to his father’s. Every farmer loved her because of her charming ways. Harold also became a grocer and also a landlord.
Harold married at the age of nineteen, a marriage set up by a matchmaker.
When the war began, the Poles took his business and, although he wanted to leave, he could not as he was the family’s sole provider. The Nazis then took all their possessions, including their cattle. Soon afterward, the entire family moved to the Ghetto, not taking anything with them. But, they traded what they had with farmers for food. The Germans killed his mother and took everyone’s gold and silver, but he hid as much as he could.
When hundreds of Jews from the Ghetto dug a massive grave and were forced to jump in, he escaped and ran away, knowing that if he stayed he’d be killed. He went to a Christian home, hid in an attic and stayed for a few months. The owners led him to the Russian underground where he fought with the Russians.
The Ukrainians took him to the partisans where he watched German hangings and killings on the streets and in homes.
He went home after the war, dug up his possessions, and found that his family was mostly killed. One sister was in Israel. Harold went to a home for refugees and eventually bought and ran a bar for Ukrainians. This lasted five years, during which time he remarried for the third time. His first wife had perished in the mass graves and his second wife had left him.
He came to Detroit because his cousins, the Shers, brought him here. He began buying bars and within two years, owned four of them.
Harold also began buying condos and nursing homes and is a very successful businessman. He donated $64,000 for an ambulance in Israel and also bought his sister a condo there.
Harold and his wife have three daughters, Rita, Debra and Bonnie.
His paternal grandparents were Josef and Dvora and his mothers parents were Bubbie and Yitzchok Sher.
Harold lost sixty members of his family during the war.
There were thirty Jewish families in his village of around two hundred thousand people. The Perlsteins lived in a small apartment and his father was a grocer. During an early incident, his father was beaten by the Polish police and died shortly thereafter.
Harold went to Polish school for three or four years and finished at the age of thirteen. He had no Jewish schooling, but learned prayers from his grandparents. On Shabbos, his mother made a special holiday meal. She called Harold her “beautiful boy.”
His mother was paralyzed on one side of her body. Nevertheless, she owned a grocery store close to his father’s. Every farmer loved her because of her charming ways. Harold also became a grocer and also a landlord.
Harold married at the age of nineteen, a marriage set up by a matchmaker.
When the war began, the Poles took his business and, although he wanted to leave, he could not as he was the family’s sole provider. The Nazis then took all their possessions, including their cattle. Soon afterward, the entire family moved to the Ghetto, not taking anything with them. But, they traded what they had with farmers for food. The Germans killed his mother and took everyone’s gold and silver, but he hid as much as he could.
When hundreds of Jews from the Ghetto dug a massive grave and were forced to jump in, he escaped and ran away, knowing that if he stayed he’d be killed. He went to a Christian home, hid in an attic and stayed for a few months. The owners led him to the Russian underground where he fought with the Russians.
The Ukrainians took him to the partisans where he watched German hangings and killings on the streets and in homes.
He went home after the war, dug up his possessions, and found that his family was mostly killed. One sister was in Israel. Harold went to a home for refugees and eventually bought and ran a bar for Ukrainians. This lasted five years, during which time he remarried for the third time. His first wife had perished in the mass graves and his second wife had left him.
He came to Detroit because his cousins, the Shers, brought him here. He began buying bars and within two years, owned four of them.
Harold also began buying condos and nursing homes and is a very successful businessman. He donated $64,000 for an ambulance in Israel and also bought his sister a condo there.
Harold and his wife have three daughters, Rita, Debra and Bonnie.
Name of Ghetto(s)
Where were you in hiding?
I hid in a Ukrainian’s home for a short time and then they took me to join the Russian underground army. After the war, the woman whose home I lived in came to visit me and I gave her some gifts to thank her for her kindness.
What DP Camp were you after the war?
Yes, for three years in Germany
Where did you go after being liberated?
I went back to Sarny
When did you come to the United States?
My wife and I came to the United States in 1949
Where did you settle?
Detroit, Michigan
How is it that you came to Michigan?
I wrote to my cousin, Harold Sher and asked him for papers to sponsor us to come.
Occupation after the war
Janitor, bar business, later nursing home administrator
When and where were you married?
I had a wife and young daughter who were killed in the war. I married my third cousin, Basia Gadzuk, after the war in December, 1945. We divorced in 1979 and soon after I married Lisa.
Spouse
Beatrice and later Lisa,
Beatrice, homemaker and later ran the bar business. Lisa, homemaker
Children
Debra Feldman, Rita Salama, and Bonnie Levin
Grandchildren
Ten grandchildren: Lisa Feldman Horowitz, Barry Feldman, Jay Feldman, Eric Feldman, David Salama, Evan Salama, Jill Salama, Julie Levin, Dana Levin, Lauren Levin and One great grandchild
What do you think helped you to survive?
I took one day at a time and I relied on G-d to make the war end, hoping I would survive. We waited for the good day when the war would end.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
We need to be sure that Israel is secure or we may have another Holocaust. Be proud of all we Jews have accomplished in spite of all the adversity we have endured. Keep Judaism alive. Treat people as you would like to be treated.
Interviewer:
Donna Sklar, Zekelman Holocaust Center
Interview date:
06/09/1994
To learn more about this survivor, please visit:
The Zekelman Holocaust Center Oral History Collection
https://www.holocaustcenter.org/visit/library-archive/oral-history-department/perlstein-harold/
https://www.holocaustcenter.org/visit/library-archive/oral-history-department/perlstein-harold/
Experiences
Survivor's map
