Gedal Rozental memoir

Contains a 47-page autobiography of Gedal’s time during World War II and the Holocaust. It details his youth in Briceni, Bessarabia (present-day Moldova), and the outbreak of World War II. The autobiography lends specific details into the life in Jewish ghettos in Eastern Europe, and the harsh treatment by the Romanian forces. Gedal also describes his experience in the Soviet army, as well as life after the war and immigration. Gedal Rozental (1922-2009) was born in the small town of Briceni, in the territory of Bessarabia, in what is now Moldova. He lived there with his family (father, mother, and three brothers) until Operation Barbossa in 1941, when Romanian forces claimed the territory and the Rozentals were forced to leave their town. With thousands of others, the Rozental family were marched to the city of Zhmerynka, Ukraine. For several months they stayed there, until the family was moved again to a Jewish ghetto in Kopaygorod (Kopaihorod). During their stay, Gedal’s father died, and Gedal and his brothers were forced to sneak out of the ghetto and visit nearby towns in order to work for food. He was caught several times by Romanian soldiers, but luckily was never seriously wounded. After the Soviets reclaimed the territory in 1944, Gedal joined the Soviet Army, where he served on the 3rd Ukrainian front. After the war, Gedal moved to Odessa and lived there until 1994, when he immigrated to the United States.