Shula Schwarz

Shula Schwarz Kleinberger was born on July 3, 1923 in Berlin, Germany. She was the middle of three children born to Jacob Schwarz and Mindel Neugewirtz Schwarz. The family’s happy life was ended with the institution of the Nuremburg Laws in 1935, which limited Jewish civil liberties in Germany and made it very difficult for Jews to live safe and productive lives.

Wanting to protect their family as best as possible, Jacob and Mindel applied for immigration visas for their children so that they could escape the worsening situation in Germany. Eight months after her older brother Allan had left on a Student Visa to the United States, Shula was granted a visa through Youth Aliyah and left for Palestine in July 1939. Her little sister, Paula, stayed with Mindel and Jacob in Berlin.

Just 16-years-old when she left her home, Shula was placed by the Youth Aliyah program on a kibbutz where she lived and finished her schooling. A good student, Shula earned a nursing degree and served as a nurse in Egypt with the British Army during WWII.

In 1946, Shula was reunited with her father, Jacob, who had survived a Labor Camp in Germany, a capsized refugee boat, two Italian POW Camps, and detainment in Cyprus, before finally arriving in Pre-State Israel – a trip that took him six years.

Shula met Shaul Kleinberger, himself an immigrant from Frankfurt, Germany, and they were married on March 27, 1950. Together, they raised two sons – Shimon and Yaacov – outside of Haifa, Israel. In the summer of 1966, nearly 30 years after they had been separated, Shula and her brother, Allan, had a very emotional reunion when he travelled with his family to Israel for the first time.

Shula passed away in Israel on October, 18, 2006 at the age of 83.