Departures of note

Simcha Applebaum was born in 1927 in Malch, in the Pruzhany district of present-day Belarus, into a traditional Jewish family. His father, Yaakov, was a prominent Zionist activist dedicated to preparing young Jews for immigration to Palestine. In November 1941, Applebaum and his family were deported to the Pruzhany ghetto. He twice escaped the ghetto in attempts to join Jewish partisans and Soviet forces, but was eventually captured and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau in January 1943, where his parents and sister perished. Applebaum survived the camp by posing as older than his age and was tattooed with the number 78524. He endured forced labor, beatings, and multiple transfers to other camps, including a death march in January 1945. During this march, he escaped and hid for five weeks before being recaptured and sent to Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. In April 1945, during another death march, he vowed to immigrate to Palestine if he survived. On May 3, 1945, he was liberated by Allied forces.

After the war, Applebaum fulfilled his vow, immigrating to Palestine and dedicating his life to the establishment of the State of Israel. He joined the Haganah, the Jewish paramilitary organization, and later became a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces. During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, he served as deputy commander of the 188th Brigade. Applebaum was among the founders of Kibbutz Netzer Sereni, where he lived and worked to build a new life rooted in Jewish renewal and collective resilience. His story reflects the broader narrative of Holocaust survivors who became instrumental in shaping modern Israel. He passed away in 2026 at the age of 99, leaving behind a legacy of survival, service, and dedication to Jewish continuity.