Obituary of Helen Beck

Helen Beck 83 of Poughkeepsie, died Thursday December 18, 2008 at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. Before the outbreak of World War II, Helen lived with her parents and nine brothers and sisters in Proszowice Poland, where her father was a grain merchant. Only Helen and three sisters survived the War. Helen was captured by the Nazis in her hometown in Poland in the spring of 1940 at the age of 14 and forced to work in a Nazi-run factory until the summer of 1941 when she was sent to the Plaszow concentration camp in Krakow, Poland, where she worked to build barracks and a road made from Jewish tombstones and there endured the horrors of the Holocaust. Helen was then miraculously selected to work in Oskar Schindler's factory where conditions were better, where she made pots and pans. Helen was then selected to bypass the death camp at Auschwitz by being placed on "Schindler's List", and was assigned to work at his factory in Brunnlitz, Czechoslovakia, where she was liberated by the Soviets on May 10, 1945, her 20th birthday. She met her husband-to-be, Kuba, while in Schindler's factory. They returned to Krakow together but could not make a life there, so they moved to Bamberg, Germany, where they married and their first son was born. They had planned to go to Israel with her three sisters, but instead went to the United States under a law signed by President Truman allowing entrance to this country by displaced persons, and settled in Lynn, Massachusetts, where their second son was born. The family moved to Poughkeepsie in 1955, where they have lived ever since. Helen was an active member at Temple Beth El and in the Jewish Community. Helen spoke in Schools, Colleges, Camps and Civic Organizations about the Holocaust. She was born in Proszowice Poland on May 10, 1925, the daughter of Herschel and Dora Brzeska. On December 1, 1946 in Bamberg Germany she married her husband Kuba Beck, he survives her at home in Poughkeepsie. Helen is survived by her two sons' and their wives, Robert Beck and Evelyn Petrone of Port Chester New York and Arthur Beck and Laurie Bookstein of Milwaukee Wisconsin. Her grandchildren, Sarah Stern and her Husband Jeffrey, Stacey Beck, Allison Beck, and Jeremy Beck. She is also survived by her Great Granddaughter Hailey Stern, and sister Mila Lewin. She was predeceased by her sisters Ruzia and Cela, both whom lived in Israel together with their children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren. Funeral Services will be held 11am Sunday December 21, 2008 at Temple Beth El, 118 South Grand Ave., Poughkeepsie, New York 12603. The services will be officiated by Rabbi Neal Loevinger. Burial will take place at the Temple Beth El Cemetery. Memorial Donations maybe made in Helens name to Temple Beth El, 118 South Grand Ave., Poughkeepsie, New York 12603. Arrangements are being handled by the Timothy P. Doyle Funeral Home, 371 Hooker Ave., Poughkeepsie, New York.