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Now that I am a guardian of Nutek’s memory, I will make sure he is never forgotten, and when I will read in shul, I will do it partially also for him.

A Bar Mitzvah is a significant event in a Jewish boy’s life.  I am lucky that I live in a time where I, as Jew, can live freely and openly, and celebrate my Bar Mitzvah without being afraid.  Throughout history, this has not always been possible.

I twinned my Bar Mitzvah with that of a boy called Naftula Orlowski or Nutek as he was called by his family. His parents were called Esther Leah and Zalman.  Nutek and I could have lived similar lives had he not been born in 1932.  He lived in Deblin Irena in Poland.  This is where my great grandmother’s family came from too. Sadly, Nutek and his parents spent the war in Deblin ghetto and were most likely deported to Treblinka in 1942, a fate shared with a lot of my family as well.

Leading up to my Bar Mitzvah, I raised money for Yad Vashem in Nutek’s memory by inviting my friends for an afternoon of eating cakes I baked and playing football.

Twin Now
See how others have reached their goal as our
Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah kids are sharing their stories.

Jordan Pearlman Twinned
with Urichem Ziechnik

Jordan celebrated his Bar Mitzvah on 29 August 2020. He had a zoom with family and friends from London and all around the world on Thursday 27 August 2020. He was lucky enough to lein in Shul on Shabbat morning 29 August 2020.
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Joshua Newman Twinned
with Josua Boesenach

Joshua twinned with Josua Boesenach who was born in June 1931. He was deported age 12 to Auschwitz and murdered in a gas chamber. He never got to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah. “As I celebrate my Bar Mitzvah he will be on my mind."
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Leora Moher Twinned
with Alice Chana Grunwald

I had my Bat Mitzvah in July 2019. For my Bat Mitzvah, I twinned with Yad Vashem UK Foundation. They twinned me with a girl named Alice Chana Grunwald, a surname that my family also used. Sadly, Alice Chana did not survive to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah, as she perished at Auschwitz.
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Ella Kaufman Twinned
with Ruth Shafir

I was very happy to meet you at my home and that you wish to commemorate my sister Ruth. For your Bat Mitzvah, you have chosen a project to remember a young girl of about your age who perished in the Holocaust
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Barney Leboff Twinned
with Carol Smulovici

Barney Leboff, from Shenley wanted to do something more than leyn from the Torah for his Bar mitzvah, so he twinned his Bar Mitzvah with Carol Smulovici, a young Romanian boy who was murdered during the Holocaust.
Read my story