Ariela (Paulette) Szenker was born in Paris, France on February 23, 1934. Her parents came from Poland. Much of the family remained in Poland, but some cousins also moved to France. Ariela was one of four children. She had two brothers, Isaac (b. November 11, 1927) and Claude (b. January 30, 1938), and a younger sister, Nicole (b. May 24, 1939). Her father’s name was Sacha (Suho, b. April 24, 1902 in Smelnik, Poland), and he was a tailor by profession. Her mother, Esther-Rachel Grodzinski, was born on September 19, 1900 in Warsaw, Poland. Her parents were married in Poland in a religious ceremony, and moved to France in 1925 where they were married in a civil ceremony.
After the start of World War II, the directrice of Ariela’s school realized what was happening and told her father to “give up” his children. One night her father told eight year old Ariela to get dressed quickly and to not make any noise. Two women whom Ariela had never seen before were waiting in the living room. Her three year old sister and four year old brother were waiting for her, and she was told that her mother had been taken to the hospital. This, however, was a fabrication so that the public institution where they were sent would accept them. Her mother was taken to an insane asylum where she underwent experiments until she died.
Ariela know that Jews were not allowed out after 8:00 PM, and she was afraid. They crossed Paris in a car, and was taken to the “Denfert-Rochefeau” a public assistance orphanage. She was informed that her parents had abandoned her, and she would no longer be together with her brother and sister. She was issued a uniform. She stayed at the orphanage until one day she was taken from the orphanage. At the train, she was reunited, briefly, with her brother and sister. She remained separated from her siblings, and spent four years at the public assistance home of St. Amand en Puisaye in Niévre, France. There she learned her catechism. She desired to be a good Christian and a true Frenchman.
After the end of World War II, her father retrieved Ariela and her siblings. She was informed that her grandparents, uncles, aunt and cousins perished in concentration camps, and that her mother did not survive. Eventually in 1970, Ariela, now Ariela Palacz, immigrated to Israel with her husband and children.
