Biography
Salomon (Salek) Liwer is the only son of Szmuel and Lonia (Mandel) Liwer. He was born August 15, 1924 in Bedzin, where his father worked in the iron industry and played an active role in the Zionist movement. After World War I Salek's father had immigrated to Palestine, where in 1920 he participated in the defense of Kibbutz Tel Hai with Joseph Trumpeldor. Soon after, however, he developed an eye disease and, upon the advice of the reknown physician Avraham Ticho, returned to Poland for treatment. There he married and started a family. The Liwer family remained in Bedzin until a few days before the German invasion in September 1939. From Bedzin they fled to Lvov, where Salek continued his high school education. In June 1940 the family was deported with other Jewish refugees to a remote Soviet settlement called Wiatka on the Pinega River in Archangel. There the refugees built themselves a makeshift camp. One year later, the Soviets announced a general amnesty and the Jewish refugees were allowed to move elsewhere. The Liwer family decided to go to Tashkent, but a severe food shortage in the region led them to continue on to Bukhara in Uzbekistan, where they remained until the summer of 1946. Salek's organizational skills earned him a position as the head of supply operations in Bukhara. After the war Salek made his way back to Poland, and from there, to Austria. For the next several years he lived in displaced persons camps in Enns, Bad Gastein and Salzburg, where he played an active role in the Dror Zionist youth movement. (His father was also active in DP politics, serving as both the Chairman of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in Germany, and General Secretary of the Jews from Poland.) In January 1949 Salek and his family immigrated to Israel.
