Ben Abraham (born Henryk Nekrycz; December 11, 1924 – October 9, 2015) was a Polish-born writer and historian who became a naturalized Brazilian citizen. He was the son of Abraham Nekrycz and Ida Nekrycz. Abraham was born in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Abraham survived the ghetto in the city and the concentration camps during the years of German occupation of his country. Abraham's parents were murdered in the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. After Auschwitz he spent time in three other concentration camps:

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

, , and Ravensbrück. On the night of May 1, 1945, he was released, weighing and suffering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

in both lungs, scurvy and dysentery. Among Abraham's 200 relatives he and his cousin were the only ones who survived. Ben Abraham spent the next two years being transferred between several American hospitals in Germany, eventually achieving a full recovery. According to him "It was a miracle; that time tuberculosis cure did not even exist". In 1947, after his recovery he clandestinely immigrated to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. There Abraham witnessed another conflict, The War of Independence of the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

State. He was not admitted to the army due to his health, so he bought an old truck and worked for the Israeli army as a driver."Imigração a Israel"
at Ben Abraham's official website Abraham arrived in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on January 21, 1955. On April 28, 1956 he married Miriam Dvora Brik, of a

Ukrainian Jew The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Some of the most important Jewish religious and ...

ish family from

Lutsk Lutsk ( uk, Луцьк, translit=Lutsk}, ; pl, Łuck ; yi, לוצק, Lutzk) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast (province) and the administrative center of the surrounding Luts ...

. In Brazil, he was recruited by

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

and cooperated with it until mid-90s. He was naturalized as a Brazilian citizen on January 30, 1959. For his work and 15 books related to the Holocaust, Abraham received numerous honors as a journalist, including the Golden Key of

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

and the Medal of Honor and Merit of

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...

. Ben Abraham died in São Paulo, just two months before his 91st birthday.

References

External links

USP homenageia Ben Abraham e José Mindlin

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham, Ben 1924 births 2015 deaths Łódź Ghetto inmates 20th-century Brazilian historians Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Jewish Brazilian writers Jewish historians Naturalized citizens of Brazil Israeli emigrants to Brazil Polish male non-fiction writers