David Hendel (M / Croatia, 1928), Holocaust survivor

The Hendel family at Fort Ontario: (first row) Ruth Hendel, Gisele Kremer, Mindy (an American relative) and Vilko Kremer; (second row): Hana, David Hendel, Eisik, Herman Kremer, and Berta Kremer. USHMM

David Hendel (M / Croatia, 1928), Holocaust survivor

Ruth Hendel / Tamar Hendel-Fishman (F / Croatia, 1935), Holocaust survivor

+ cousins, Leo, Jeta and Gisela (son & daughters of their paternal uncle, Wolf Hendel, and his wife, both deceased):

< Leo Hendel (M / Croatia, 1920), Holocaust survivor]] >

Jeta Hendel (F / Croatia, 1925), Holocaust survivor

Gisela Hendel (F / Croatia, 1935), Holocaust survivor

+ cousins, Hermann and Vilko (sons of their maternal aunt, Bertha Kremer, and her deceased husband):

Hermann Kremer (M / Croatia, 1930), Holocaust survivor

Vilko Kremer (M / Croatia, 1934), Holocaust survivor

• KEYWORDS : <Refugees> <Italy> <Hidden Children> <Fort Ontario> <United States>

Biography

David and Ruth were the children of Eisig Yitchak Hendel (1903-1992; later Isaac Handy) and Hana Sarah Weissman. They were both born in Zagreb, Croatia. The family fled to Rovigo, Italy, together with their aunt, Bertha (and her children, Hermann and Vilko) and three other orphan cousins (Leo, Jeta and Gisela). When the Germans invaded Italy, they moved to Rome under false papers. In July 1944 the entire family sailed to Fort Ontario, United States. By 1946, they settled in New York. David became a dentist and Ruth a teacher and art therapist. Their grandmother, Yetta, and two other aunts Haika and Darinka (who also were them in Italy during the war) did not go with them to the United States but emigrated to Brazil.

USHMM (1)

David Hendell (born David Hendel) is the son of Hana Weissman Hendel and Eisig Hendel. He was born on September 11, 1928 in Zagreb, Croatia where his father was a textile merchant. He had one younger sister, Ruth born on April 26, 1935. After the German invasion of Yugoslavia, the family fled from Zagreb to the Italian occupied zone. Hana and Ruth left first, and after several unsuccessful attempts, David and his father joined them. They stayed in Iin Susak for a about a month and then went to Ljubljana, Slovenia for several months. David's grandmother Yetta Weissman, and Hana's sister, Bertha Kremer, together with her two boys, Vilko and Herman, joined them in Ljublijana. They fled Zagreb after the Ustashi killed Bertha's husband, Aron, and David's grandfather, Mordechai Weissman. From there they eventually came to Italy proper and lived in the town on Rovigo until the German invasion of Italy in September 1943. They then left for Rome and lived under false papers. David, together with his cousin Herman Kremer, studied in the Coleggio San Leone Magno, a Catholic Vatican school. In August 1944, following the American liberation of southern Italy, the Hendel family registered to join a refugee transport to the United States. After crossing the Atlantic on the naval vessel, the Henry Gibbins, David and his family were brought to the refugee camp, Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York. Bertha, Herman and Vilko also came to Oswego while Yetta stayed with her two other daughters, Hajka and Darika and eventually immigrated to Brazil. The Hendels lived in Oswego for the next year and a half and after they were granted permission to remain permanently in the United States in 1946, David and his family moved to New York City. David served two years in the military and then attended Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery, graduating in 1959.

USHMM (2)

Eisig Yitchak Hendel (1903-1992; later Isaac Handy) was born in 1903 in the village of Turza Wielka, Poland to David and Reisel Handel. He had one brother Wolf. He married Hana Sarah Weissman in 1927 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (present day Zagreb, Croatia). Hana (later Hana Hendel Handy) 1908-1998) was born in 1908 in Ruda Różaniecka, Poland to Mordechai Weissman and Yetta Schneider-Weissman. She had one brother, Samuel, and three sisters, Bertha (1911-1997), Haika (1921-2011), and Darinka (b. 1922).

Eisig and Hana had two children, Ruth (b. 1935, now Tamar Hendel-Fishman) and David (b. 1928), both born in Zagreb. They owned a dry goods store. After the German invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, the family went into hiding and sought ways to escape. Hana and Ruth left Zagreb first, followed by Eisig and David soon after. They were joined by Hana’s mother Yetta, and her sister Bertha and her two sons Volko and Herman in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Prior to fleeing Zagreb, Yetta’s husband Mordechai and Bertha’s husband Aron were both killed. The family was then able get to Rovigo, Italy. They remained there until the German invasion of Italy in 1943. They fled to Rome, and lived there using false papers. In August 1944 the Hendels were able to get on a refugee ship, the USNS Henry Gibbins, and sail to the United States. They were relocated to the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, New York.

By 1946, the family moved to New York City, settling in Flushing, Queens. David served in the Korean War, and later became a dentist. Ruth became a public school teacher in New York and Maryland, and later became an art therapist. Eisig, who had apprenticed as a jeweler before the war, found work in that profession. Hana’s sister Bertha and her sons Vilko and Herman also immigrated to the United States. Her mother Yetta and her sisters Haika and Darinka immigrated to Brazil after the war.