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Born in Warsaw, Poland
Shmuel (Samek) Yannay (Poznansky) was born in Poland, Warsaw to Henryc and Tauba Poznansky. Samek is a nick name for Shmuel, given to him by his mother. In this image, the few months old baby Samek is held by his grandmother. It was taken around summer of 1921 in Poland -
My parents
My parents were not Zionists. They were Socialists, who fought for the liberation of Poland from the bonds of Russia, and believed that Jews would be peacfully absorbed into an independent Poland. -
My mother's sister Esther
MY mother's sister, Esther, made Aliya to Palestine in 1925, and this had a decisive influence on my life. Because of her influence I started to learn Hebrew at age five. -
Hebrew Kindergarten
I went to Hebrew kindergarten and learned all of the Hebrew children's songs. I then went to the Tarbut (Hebrew for "culture") School and continued to learn Hebrew and studied Hebrew literature and Zionism.
This photo was taken just before I left Poland. You can see me sitting at the center, surrounded by all my classmates, with my hands crossed across my chest.
Tarbut was a Hebrew educational network functioning in all major cities in Polan such as Warsaw, Vilna, Bialystock and others. -
Grandfather Funeral in Warsaw
One of my childhood memories is of my grandfather funeral in Warsaw. On the way to the Jewish cemetary, as the family walks behind a horse drawn carriage on which the coffin is placed, local boys were hurling stones and shouting racial slurs at the grief stricken family. -
Tarbut school teachers
School board meeting. The women-teachers were sent from Palestine to teach us in Warsaw. -
Three closest friends
My closest friends in schol and in youth movement. All three were lost in Warsaw Ghetto uprising or partisan fighting. I met them as photos on the wall in the Ringelblum Museum in Warsaw. -
Boy Scouts
My boyscouts group. You can see the group's name "Reamim", Hebrew for thunders, on the flag to the left. In Lag Ba-Omer we used to celebrate in fields and forests, just like other Jewish youngsters in Israel. I got this image with many others in a farewell album they presented me before I left Poland to make Aliya to Palestine. Most of the boys in this image did not survive the holocaust. (I am not in this photo) -
My boyscouts instructors
at age 12 I joined Zionist-Scouts youth movement named Jewish Youth Movement "Akihva". In this photo you can see my instructors. All of them arriveto Palestine and were founding members of kibutz Neve Eytan. -
Family farewell
Here I am with my mother during the summer before I made Aliya to Palestine. My mother was very involve with my activites. She was a member of the school board as parents' representative, and participate in all our boyscouts excrusions and camps. -
Boyscouts farewell party
My boyscouts group gave a farewell party before my departure to Palestine -
My Aliya
After my Bar Mitzva and having finished my studies, I made Aliya with the certificate of a student at a technical school connected with the Haifa Technion (known today as Bosmat). In this photo, I am with my cousins at a sea side resort during the summer before I left Poland. I will not see my family again. I will return to Poland, as a tourist, more than half a century later -
Leaving school
Upon my arrival to Palestine I studied for one year at a trade school connected to the Technion in Haifa. But money at home was tight. Esther and Zvi tried to provide for my schooling, but eventually I had to go to work as a construction laborer with Zvi, Esther's husband who was a stone cutter. You can see Zvi at work in this photo. -
Aunt Esther and her husband Zvi
Aunt Esther and her beloved husband, Zvi Gittelman. Zvi was a skilled stonecutter. He was born in Romania. They met in Palestine.
