Bela Lieberman’s childhood was taken from her by Nazi Germany, but never did she let those four years in internment steal her sweetness.
“She was always smiling, always happy,” said her son, Philip Lieberman. “Without any doubt, that was her neshamah [soul].”
Bela died Sept. 30 after living with dementia for several years. She was 81.
“Even when she was in the hospital, people commented on the sweetness in her eyes,” Philip said. “All her caregivers told me they considered it an honor to care for her because of her sweet disposition.”
Bela Lieberman was born in Slawkow, Poland, in 1927. She grew up on a farm with two siblings and her parents, Meier and Liba Fischel. When Bela was 12, she and her family were taken to concentration camps. She survived four years in German camps before being liberated in 1945.
“She didn’t talk about that experience in any great length,” Philip said.
After the war, Bela met Mendel Lieberman, also a Holocaust survivor, through mutual friends while living in Munich. She was “extremely beautiful in her youth,” Philip said, with shiny blonde hair and striking blue eyes. The couple married in 1947 and gave birth to their first son, Max, in 1948.
The following year, the family moved to New Jersey with help from the Jewish Welfare Federation, which also helped Mendel find work at a refrigeration factory. They stayed in Trenton, N.J., until 1960, when they moved to San Francisco.
Mendel first owned a grocery store in the Richmond District, then worked at a uniform store, Fashion Clothing, in the Mission.
Bela raised the children in an observant home. She lit Shabbat candles and made a special dinner every Friday, and regularly attended services at Congregation Adath Israel, an Orthodox synagogue in San Francisco, where she was a member for 35 years.
“Religion to my parents was not something voluntary — it was a way of life, not a choice,” Philip recalled.
Bela loved to cook, bake, play cards (Gin Rummy was a favorite) and watch game shows like “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune.”
David Wall, director of Buena Vista Manor in San Francisco, where Lieberman lived the past six years, said, “Her kindness was amazing, especially when you look at her history and what she had gone through.
“I’ve been doing this job for 16 years, so I’ve met a lot of residents, and this is one I’ll never forget.”
Bela Lieberman is survived by her husband of 61 years, Mendel Lieberman, son Philip Lieberman and daughter-in-law Lori Miller Lieberman. Donations to Adath Israel, 1851 Noriega St., San Francisco, 94122 are preferred.