Jack Nasielski
Jack NasielskiNefesh B’Nefesh

Jack Nasielski, 92, from Edison, New Jersey, arrived together with other Nefesh B'Nefesh (NBN) immigrants at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday.

The NBN group aliyah (immigration to Israel) flight was the product of cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel and JNF-USA.

Nasielski arrived together with 27 other new Israeli citizens, all fulfilling a lifelong dream.

For Nasielski, however, this is yet another chapter in his eventful life.

Born in Dessau, Germany, Nasielski, a Holocaust survivor, fled the Nazis as a child through Poland, and eventually was captured and shipped to four different camps including Auschwitz and Blechhammer, where he was finally liberated in 1945.

Now, he is fulfilling his aliyah dream almost 71 years to the day since he arrived by boat in New York as a post-war European immigrant.

For almost 20 years, Jack lived in Edison, New Jersey, following his daughter Lilly and her husband Bruce. Now he is following his children again as they all make aliyah to Rehovot this summer to join Lilly and Bruce’s four children and Jack’s many grandchildren and great-grandchildren who already live in Israel.

“Israel is the Jewish homeland. No one can persecute you for being a Jew in your own country,” explained 92-year-old Holocaust and Auschwitz survivor Jack Nasielski upon joining his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren in Israel.

“Today I am proud to be an Israeli and a real Jew. Israel is my new home and I love it.”

Jack Nasielski with his aliyah guide.
Jack Nasielski with his aliyah guide.Nefesh B’Nefesh
Jack Nasielski with his new Israeli identity card.
Jack Nasielski with his new Israeli identity card.Nefesh B’Nefesh