Israel Matzav

Video: Surviving the Holocaust: Yaakov Hollander's story

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Ya'akov Hollander was a ten-year-old boy living in Krakow, Poland, when WWII broke out. Deported from his home and eventually crammed into the Krakow ghetto, Ya'akov passed through twelve different concentration camps during the Holocaust. A walking skeleton when he was finally liberated, Yaakov had lost both his parents and most of his family in the Holocaust. With his world completely destroyed, Yaakov turned to music in an attempt to cope with his loss. Joining a children's choir in a camp for child survivors, Yaakov forged a lifelong bond with music, becoming a composer, musical arranger and choir conductor. Despite all of the horror he faced as a child, through the help of music, Yaakov has managed to remain an optimistic person.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:54 PM