A Lost Community

April 16, 2007 - 10:00 AM by Stephanie

A treasure found years after the Holocaust tragedy: 180 photographs were discovered hidden in the wall of a Chelm, Poland home when it was torn down for renovations. The pictures show a large Jewish family and their many friends.

After months of searching for clues to identify the family in the images, someone noticed a sign above a laundromat in one picture: Boden.

Using the lists of testimonies archived at Yad Vashem the album was delivered to Pini Beeri and Riki Ariel, the sons of Pearale Boden Berezowsky, who was one of two siblings to survive the Holocaust. The men delivered the book to their mother six hours before her death.

Family members said that the brother, Shlomo Boden, had informed the family about hiding the album in the wall, along with silverware and silver dishware. However, the survivors did not return to the house to retrieve the photographs after the war and the photographs remained hidden for 65 years.

Ynet has posted 100 of the photographs bearing images of people not yet identified. If you recognize anyone, YNet urges you to be in touch.

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