Yom HaShoa – Holocaust Remembrance Day will be marked this evening across the country and around the world. There are many heartbreaking, moving and inspiring stories that capture one of the horrific events that mankind has ever experienced in order to perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust so that we will “Never Forget”. One of those stories belongs to “Saba” Dov Landau who survived the horrors of the Holocaust before arriving in Israel after World War II. In the new State of Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv created a feeling of hope, belonging and happiness as “Saba” Dov embarked on his new life.

“Saba” Dov was born in 1928 in the town of Brzesko, Poland just 50 kilometers east of Kraków and 25 km west of Tarnów. In September of 1939, the Nazis entered the town and burned down the synagogue which was opposite to his home in the middle of the town square. The whole village cried in horror and disbelief.

Living in the Ghetto of Brzesko up until the age of 13, “Saba” Dov was sent to the Bochnia Ghetto which was also a labor camp where he pressed straw for the German’s horses to eat. When the Ghetto was liquidated he moved with his father to another camp called Szebnie where he lived for another 3 months until the 4,000 people in the camp were taken to Aushwitz-Birkenau. Once in Aushwitz, the Nazis made a selection of who would be able to work and who would go to the crematorium.

After a month and a half, Dov together with his father went to work in the Jaslo-Rzeszow coal mines. However, after six months of hard labor his father fell ill, went to the hospital and was then sent to his death at the crematoriums in Aushwitz, never to return. On January 17, 1945 “Saba” Dov began the “Death March” as the allied troops approached the concentration camp.

After making it through the March, the Nazis moved the survivors to move to the Buchenwald camp where he took part in his second “Death March” on April 7, 1945. Just a few days later after surviving the “Death March” yet again, the American troops liberated Buchenwald where he remained for a number of months until moving to the land of Israel.

Once in Israel, “Saba” Dov was able to finish high school, attend Yeshiva and also was part of Hagana where he fought in Gush Etzion and Jerusalem. On May 15, 1948 when the State of Israel was declared, he was captured and sent to a Jordanian prison where he remained for 11 months until he was freed.

“Saba” Dov moved to Tel Aviv where he was married and began rebuilding his family, a family in which he lost his parents, grandparents, brothers and over 50 other family members. Today his flourishing family numbers over 80 people.

Maccabi Tel Aviv was an integral part of how “Saba” Dov integrated into Israeli society after the War of Independence. Through the club, he was able bond with many looking for a sense of belonging that was so important in those days, helping him become a part of the new Israeli society. The love for sport and football made life a bit better and a little more joyful after the Holocaust and the many horrors he had gone through. In fact, to this day, even at the age of 90, “Saba” Dov is an ardent supporter and fan of the Yellow & Blue as his love for Maccabi is unequivocal.

Last year, “Saba” Dov came full circle as he helped guide the Israeli youth of today when he returned to Poland and visited some of the sites of his childhood, along with the concentration camps and other locations across the country as he gave over stories from the life that he had experienced.