Born: Sokolow Podlaski, Poland Elka was raised in a large,
Yiddish-speaking Jewish family in Sokolow Podlaski, a
manufacturing town in central Poland with a large Jewish
population of some 5,000. Elka was 14 when she graduated from
middle school. After completing her schooling, she became a
tailor. Working at home, she made clothes for different
clothiers in town. 1933-39: Elka was unmarried and living with
her parents when war between Germany and Poland broke out on
September 1, 1939. German aircraft bombed Sokolow Podlaski's
market and other civilian targets before victorious German
troops entered the town on September 20. Three days later, the
Germans set fire to the town's main synagogue and looted the
Jewish community. 1940-42: Over the next two years, the Germans
imposed restrictions on the Jews of Sokolow Podlaski, eventually
ordering them to wear an identifying Jewish star on their
clothing. On September 28, 1941, the Germans set up a ghetto and
Elka and her family were among the 4,000 Jews concentrat