Pnina Segal - פנינה סגל

Pnina Segal Klushiner was born on April 5 1938 in Lipuwa street that is found in Lodz the city in Poland.
She was born to her parents Mirian (Marisha) and Meir (Max).
Her old brother Romek died from a disease, and she was only child.
Her parents managed a textile factory.
In 1939, when World War Two get started, Pnina was 2 and half years old, and the Germans break into Poland and enter to Lodz.
Before world war two a Jewish community lived in Lodz. This community counted 225,000-233,000 people.
This community was the two of the biggest Jewish communities in Poland after Warsaw, She had an education network (for Jewish people) , a Jewish press, and yiddisher theater.
At the time of World War Two, the whole community was imprisoned in ghetto Lodz, one of the famous ghettos in the history of the holocaust.
Pnina's mother, Miriam, according to the risky situation for Jewish people in Poland, decided to send her daughter to Peutrekov city with a German worker, a woman, which worked in her parent's factory. Pnina's mother though that in other place her daughter will be save.
After a while, when the dangerous for Jewish getting bigger and bigger, Pnina's mother, father, and her parent's sister's and brothers are coming to Peutrekov to be whit Pnina.
The Jewish community in peutrekov started at the 16 century, and before World War two she counted 15,000 Jewish that was 27% of the population.
The prosperous Jewish community, that was religious and also secular, publicize three publishing weekly, and known in the 19 and 20 century in her jewish printing.
The community had religious organizations, cultured organizations, and a lot of political organizations. (Including "The Bond" and others)










In Birkenau lies Pnina along with many other women when she is trying to stay with her last members of family. One day Inzka was taken to the gas cells because of her disease, when Cela, her mother, run after her and tried to avoid her destiny. Both were killed, Pnina stays alone. Till this day it is mystery for Pnina, how federation alone when she was so young, who cared for her food, and who kept on her.

On 27 January 1945 the Russians entering the Birkenau extermination camp where Pnina was in, this is the day she was released.
Until the liberation, Pnina spend with good women that kept her.
In those days also released Miriam, Pnina's mother, with a few friends. They rented apartment in Lodz, Maryam was worried for all her incompetent friends due to the war. At the same time, Miriam herd rumors that her children survived from the Holocaust. Miriam decided her daughter is one of the survivor’s children, She decided to leave her friends to the apartment, and to look for her lost daughter that between the survivor’s children.

Day after the liberation, came 17 years old Polish girl named Kaza Novak into the hut where was Pnina and was looking for a little sister, when Kaza's eyes met Pnina's eyes that was 7 years old, Kaza was amazed with her beauty, she asked her if she wants to go with her and she took her hand, and they are both doing their way to Kaza's house in Aosoitzims town.
At the same time Miriam was looking through her daughter, she says: "It was difficult way... she came to Auschwitz, where there is a list of all children and where they are". After a search that she had done she found out that Pnina is found a few kilometers away from her. She decided to go from house to house those surrounded the ghetto streets until she came to Kaza’s house.

Pnina lived with Kaza in the same room for six weeks, and suddenly on the 16th March 1945 Miriam found her daughter, that she had not seen for three years, in an exciting meeting, in which Miriam asked her daughter Pnina if she remember her, Pnina answer that she remember her and remember the shirt that was on her, dark green shirt with pearls buttons along.

Pnina, her mother and her adopted sister came to Israel in 1947 in legal alyaa, and arrived to the port of Haifa.
Pnina was at kibbutz while her mother, Miriam, went to work at the big city.
Towards the end of the year Pnina, her mother and her adopted sister arrived to Bergnblzn, there Pnina started her education at first grade and at the same school her adopted sister started her education too.

Some time later, the War of Independence broke out. Miriam decided that she is back to take Pnina and promised her that they will never separate again.
During Pnina’s life in Israel, she ignored from being Polish that was at the Holocaust and she had not been talking about the Holocaust in general and in particular the previous life.

Pnina was invited one day for a conference at Yad Vashem, by many convinces to leave for youth delegations, finally Pnina convinced and decided to leave for a journey that may return her to difficult times and to memories from the past.
Pnina was looking after Kaza even when she was in Israel, Pnina went to the authorities but they claimed Kaza died. Pnina refused to believe and decided to look for her by herself.
She traveled with the delegations, and when she arrived to Poland, she began looking for her by herself. Pnina came to woman’s house named Kaza and there she found her boys that told Kaza had big sister and bigger siblings.

In the end, Pnina did think and found it is not Kaza’s house at all because to Kaza that saved her was not big siblings, and of course not a little sister (because it was the reason Kaza took Pnina as a little sister).
Pnina already came back to Israel but there was not new information on Kaza that she had not seen from the moment she left with her mother.

When Pnina came home in Israel she surprisingly found a letter in the mail from kaza, the excitement of Pnina once she read the letter was very big. In the letter Kaza wrote that she heard what happened to Pnina’s searches after her and she started to hear many rumors in the village on the same case, one day Kaza went on a bus in Poland and a woman asked her if she knows that searching for her, Kaza was surprised, and found out that was another Kaza in the city in exactly the same name.

With big excitement they talked on the phone when they found each other. Pnina has decided to document the exciting meeting that was about to happen.
The weather in Poland during the meeting was suitable to the atmosphere of excitement and the joy in the meeting.

In August 1996 Pnina’s mother died, Miriam was an amazing woman and very generous she was love and worried mother.
In November of that year Kaza came for her first visit in Israel.

Pnina studied children’s education and work as a teacher, but did not work much in this profession.
Now Pnina is going with many delegations to Poland, in 2000 when passed 60 years since the war, Pnina was interview to Channel 2 and arrived for a big meeting with heads of governments, in every place that Pnina have been, Kaza went with her.
Pnina live with her love Danny Segal, and married him in 1959,they are the parents of Yair, Ravit and Asaf, and their grandchildren are Or, Bar, Shir, Raz, Lior, Shay, Gaya, Maya and Guy. Pnina continued to work as Medical secretary until the year 2005 even though she was able to retire early for pension, and she is a volunteer till this day in analysis room in Tel Hashomer hospital and she is keep dancing and traveling with her unique happy of life.
Anyone who knows Pnina immediately know that she always get what she want and nothing will prevent her to accept her wishes.