מאגר סיפורי מורשת

My grandfather, Yehoshua Zelinger, (זכרונו לברכה) was born in June, around 1911, in Bardejov, Czechoslovakia. The family called him Shia for short, and he was the youngest in his family.

Living in an Ultra-Orthodox community, my grandfather grew up with a lot of anti-semitism. When he was 15 he went to hear Ze’ev Jabotinsky speak, and was so inspired, that he went home, cut off his payot, and joined the Beitarim. Menachim Begin was his troop commander and assigned him to walk the Jewish children to school, and protect them from the Gentile-bullies. After joining the Beitarim, he also had a passion for boxing! At the young age of 16, he was a boxing contestant for the Maccabiah games.

In the year 1937, my grandfather went to Italy, with the intent on getting on a ship to Palestine and joining the fighting of the Beitarim in Israel. When everything was set for him to move, he called his mother to let her know he was leaving. She cried hysterically and begged him not to leave because his two older brothers had already left for America and if he left, too, she would be alone with his sisters. His mother needed him to help bring them to America. However, one of the sisters was already married to an important journalist who didn't want to leave Europe and because of that they, unfortunately, perished in Auschwitz.

My Grandfather hugging his wife Irene

Instead of going with the Beitarim, my grandfather came to America through Ellis Island on July 21st, 1938. When he arrived at Ellis island, he was told that Shia was not an American name and he should change it. So my grandfather looked at the immigration officer in front of him and asked him what his name was and the man answered that it was “Giovanni” to which my grandfather replied, “I like that name, I want it too!” In the end, he, fortunately, decided to change his name to Samuel, using Sam, for short.

The story of Grandma Irene, his wife; you can read here.

הזוית האישית

The granddaughter Elisheva: I really enjoyed hearing my mom and aunt talk about my grandfather’s childhood. Hearing about his Zionism and yearning to live in Israel was very inspiring. I’m certain he would’ve been incredibly proud of me and my family for making Aliyah and choosing to live in Eretz Yisrael.