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At 75, Aaron Herskowitz and his beloved Helen returned to Bilke. It was the first time since World War II. It was only after much convincing from their children that they were able to get their father and mother, also a native Bilker and Auschwitz survivor, to make the journey.
Howard, who has been fascinated with his father’s stories since childhood, hadn’t truly understood his parents’ reluctance to return. Together, Aaron and his family revisited familiar countryside while Howard used video and audio to record his father’s fascinating memories.

Aaron’s family

Circa 1925 (clockwise from far left): sisters Hannah, Sarah and Rachel, brother Harry, sister Bela, maternal grandmother Reisel Klein, grandfather Jacob Klein, Aaron’s father Jacob Herskowitz, mother Paula, Aaron and sister Leah.

Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz-Josef

Aaron’s family revered Emperor Franz-Josef (1830-1916), who emancipated his Jewish citizens.

Aaron

At the end of World War II

Helen

1945.

Helen and Aaron

Married in 1946.

Aaron and his niece Irene 1946

His only relative to survive the war.

Aaron and Helen

Farm in 1948.

Aaron

Riding horses in the 1970s.

Aaron returns to Bilke

Showing that he survived to return to his hometown Bilke several decades after the war.

Aaron and Helen

Old friends during their return to Bilke.

Aaron and friend

Aaron’s family had bred horses, and after immigrating to America, he was able to return to a childhood passion.

Aaron and Helen’s family

With children Louis, Philis, Howard, their spouses and grandchildren.

Sax
Aaron’s wild friend Sax. After immigrating to America, Aaron searched in vain for his old comrade Sax. It was not until after the deaths of both men that members of the Sax family by chance attended a live presentation of “Aaron’s Revenge” and then stepped forward with the amazing news that their relative was the late Ignatz Sax of Aaron’s story. This photograph was taken in the mid-to-late 1940s.
The Herskowitz Family
The Herskowitz Family, 1925. Aaron is second from the right. His two younger sisters, in the middle, Rachel and Leah, were still living at home when Aaron was taken to Russia.
Bilke Rabbi
Bilke’s Rabbi Weiss preached prayer rather than resistance; because of this, he was one of Aaron’s greatest adversaries.
Aaron was fluent in over ten different languages. It was only recently discovered that Aaron wrote many poems in several different languages, including Latin, Czech, Russian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Hebrew and Yiddish. Although he was fluent in German, he never wrote poetry in that language.