Dov Landau’s family lived in Brzesko for over 200 years. Mr. Landau was born in a tenement house on the Market Square. He had three younger brothers, Naftali, Josef and Nisan. His entire famly was murdered in the Holocaust – brothers, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins – over 40 people. Only Dov survived – 5 concentration camps, death march… In 1945, he was liberated from the Buchenwald camp and emigrated to Palestine. In 1948, after the creation of the state of Israel, he joined the army, fought in yet another war, got caught and was imprisoned in Jordan for almost a year. After liberation he married the sister of a friend who had been murdered in Jordan. They lived together for almost 60 years (Mrs. Szoszana Landau died of cancer a few years ago). Their marriage resulted in three children. 15 grandchildren. 42 great-grandchildren. Dov keeps repeating: „Germans tried to murder us all, but they failed. I could recreate my family!”
Mr. Landau has been coming to Poland for many years, usually with groups of Israeli youth. During these visits he shares not only about horrors of the Holocaust, but also about pre-war life of Jews in the town of his childhood, Brzesko.
In 2015, we managed to organize the first meeting of Mr. Landau with the youth from high school # 1 in Brzesko, and at the beginning of 2016 – with the students of junior high school, which Mr. Landau had attended almost 80 years ago (!). Mr. Landau talked about his life in the city before the war, about Bresko Jews, about the experience of the Holocaust.
In spring of 2016, Dov could also meet Brzesko residents – about 100 of them! -gathered at the municipal cultural center (gratitude for organization of this event goes to the director of the Municipal Culture Center Małgorzata Cuber, Mr. Jacek Filip and Mr. Jerzy Wyczesany) During this meeting Mr. Landau presented the mayor of Brzesko Mr. Grzegorz Wawryka with a few items for an exhibition on Brzesko Jews in the future museum.