"Take the Girl" - The Story of Shela Alteratz

Shela Alteratz (nee Sion) was born in Štip, Macedonia in 1934. In April 1941, Macedonia was conquered and annexed to Bulgaria. In March 1943, Shela and her family, together with the rest of the Jews of the city, were deported to the "Monopol" factory at Skopje, where they were kept in difficult conditions. A while later Bella, Shela's sister, was allowed to leave the compound, as she was an Italian subject. Before leaving, their mother sent Shela with Bella, instructing her, "Take the child." Shela's family was later taken to the Treblinka extermination camp. Shela began a journey of wandering and hiding throughout Kosovo, during which she lived under an assumed identity. In spring 1944, Shela was arrested and imprisoned in a concentration camp for political prisoners. After liberation, she moved to Prishtina, and was later sent to an orphanage in Belgrade. In July 1949, Shela immigrated to Israel, and together with her friends moved to a Yugoslav youth movement troop at the Ein Dor kibbutz, where she met her future husband, Avraham Alteratz. In 1951 she enlisted in the army. After her discharge, she began working as a nurse at a mental hospital in Jerusalem. Shela and Avraham have three children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.