Bella Granek (nee Alperowitz) escaped Germany on the morning after Kristallnacht when her father, the town shochet, chazzan, and mohel was taken to Dachau. She and her mother traveled to Switzerland where Bella was left in a children’s home. Her mother returned to Germany, and with the help of the Swiss government (she was a Swiss citizen), her husband was miraculously released.
Bella, her older brother, and her parents moved to Palestine where her father bought a chicken farm. In order to give people the incentive to buy kosher chickens, he offered his customer a free service – the feathers would be plucked for them. That became Bella’s job!
Bella joined the Tzahal and served as a medic. She rose to the rank of sergeant.
She married Dov Granek, a Holocaust survivor and started their married life in Tel-Aviv. Later they moved to Lakewood, NJ where they settled in a community where many other Holocaust survivors lived, including her husband’s sister and brother.
Bella and Dov raised three children together, all committed to the Torah and traditions they instilled in them.
Bella became ill with Covid-19 in February, 2021 and passed away on March 25, 2021.
She is survived by three children, 16 grandchildren, and 36 great-grandchildren. תנצבה