Plaque

Benjamin Herszson, was born on July 4, 1910, in Lodz, Poland, the only son of Menek Mendel and Roma Rys Herszson. Mendel built frames. Benjamin had a brother Henryk. Benjamin graduated from Warsaw University with a law degree and worked as a specialist in loading commercial ships in the Gdynia port. On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Benjamin was mobilized into the Polish Army as a lieutenant. He was soon captured as a prisoner of war. He was put on a train for transport to a POW camp. While the train was passing through Lodz, Benjamin threw a piece of paper out of the window, notifying his mother that he was taken prisoner. Someone found the note and took it to his family, who were preparing to leave Poland for Vilna (later Vilnius, Lithuania), with plans to continue to Japan. His mother Roma decided to stay in Lodz to await news from Benjamin. Her sister Marysia and her elderly father stayed with her. They were deported and murdered in Auschwitz in 1944. His father Mendel and his brother Henryk, with his wife Helena, left for Vilna. Mendel remained in Vilna, which was under Soviet control. Henryk and Helena continued to Kobe, Japan. Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Mendel went into hiding, but perished sometime in 1943.
Benjamin and about eighty Jewish officers were held in Woldenberg POW camp for officers. The camp was liberated by the Red Army. Benjamin returned to Lodz, where he found no surviving family members. He met Bella Sztajnhorn, who was from Zdunska Wola. They decided to leave Poland together and traveled to Constanza, Romania, where they married. They sailed from Lyon, France, on th SS Campana and settled in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Benjamin operated a successful meatpacking factory and Bella completed her Ph.D. in history. Benjamin, 77, passed away in 1987.