A New Life
During the years of the Nazi occupation, Yosef Laufer had only two dreams. First, to survive the War and make aliyah (literally to 'rise up') to Eretz Israel (The Land of Israel), and second, to be able to again eat fresh bread. With the same determination that fired his will to survive in the fields of Ukraine, Yosef made both dreams come true.
Yosef left Europr for Israel on May 14, 1948, as a refugee aboard the aptly named Providence. Eight days later he arrived in Haifa a free man and a citizen of the world's newest democracy. He was handed a rifle and did his citizen's duty, going straight into battle in Israel's Atzmaut War (War of Independence). He served with distinction under Yitzak Rabin and his Letter of Commendation was one of his proudest possessions.
His second dream was realized at both a personal and community level. In 1952, he founded the "Bread of Life" (Lechem Chai) bakery in the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon. For over 50 years the Bread of Life bakery made challah, bialys, ruggalah and all the fresh-baked treats that Yosef remembered from his Mother's kitchen, but was unable to enjoy as he and his Father lived on raw wheat in the fields of Ukraine.
Wrapped around those experiences, Yosef made a life and a new family for himself. Soon after the war, he met his future wife Yona. Born in Chernow, Poland in 1925, she survived the Shoah and would have arrived in Israel on the same boat as Yosef, except that she was detained in Marseilles and sent to an internment camp on Cyprus for 20 months. She eventually made her way to Israel where they were married. Yosef and Yona had two children, a daughter Leah and a son Avner, six grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Photos(from top to bottom): (1) Yosef in a rare moment of relaxation after the war and before emigrating to Israel; (2) Yosef Laufer in his own bakery in Israel; (3)Yosef and Yona Laufer dance at a family event; (4) Yosef and Yona Laufer's family.
Reprinted from The Fields of Ukraine: A 17-Year-Old's Survival of Nazi Occupation; The Story of Yosef Laufer by Haim Tal (Dallci Press 2009), with permission granted by Dallci Press on March 28, 2010.
