If Only Night Would Not Come- The Story of Aliza Landau

Aliza Landau was born in 1938 in Lodz, Poland. Her family - parents, Melech and Ruth Goldman, and brother Rishek, resided in Ruda Pabianicka, a suburb of the city. After the Germans entered Poland, her parents decided that Aliza's father would go into hiding. Aliza, her mother and brother were sent to the Lodz Ghetto, but were able to escape and join her father shortly afterwards. This marked the beginning of four years of wandering across Poland for the family, hiding in different locations, assisted by Polish peasants. The family was almost caught several times, and at one point was forced to escape to a nearby forest. After several days without food, her mother left the forest in search of sustenance but did not return. Aliza's brother died of starvation and she and her father were found by a German patrol. They were taken, together with several other people, to a makeshift killing pit. Her father was killed but Aliza survived unharmed. She waited for the night to come, crawled out of the pit and escaped to a nearby village. She was six years old. In the village she was taken in by a Ukrainian couple who took care of her until the region was liberated. Her mother, who had also survived in hiding after being severely injured, was able to find her after the war had ended. They moved to Israel in 1948. Aliza married Yossi Landau and had three children. She worked as a kindergarten teacher. Today she lectures on the subject of the Holocaust and accompanies Israel Police and security forces delegations as well as Israeli high-schools to Poland.