18-year-old David Stoliar lived with his father in Bucharest. Due to increasing persecution in Romania, his father arranged an illegal ship’s passage to Palestine for his son. On December 12, 1941, Stoliar and 791 other Jews left the country on board the Struma. After engine damage, the ship was towed into Istanbul harbor. Negotiations between the Turkish and British governments and the Jewish Agency on the refugees’ entry and continued journey failed. The unseaworthy ship was towed back to the Black Sea on February 23, 1942, then hit by a submarine torpedo shortly after, and sank. David Stoliar managed to stay above water and was rescued by Turkish fishermen the next day. He was the only survivor.
Absolutely exhausted, Stoliar was taken to an Istanbul hospital to recover and then imprisoned. After two months, the Jewish Community succeeded in negotiating his release. However, Stoliar had to leave the country immediately. A Turkish police officer accompanied him to British-mandated Palestine, where Stoliar joined the British Army in 1943.
David Stoliar with his mother Bella, who emigrated to Paris, late 1930s. Source: Holocaust Museum Los Angeles
David Stoliar’s ticket for the passage from the Romanian port of Konstanza to Haifa (now in Israel), Bucharest, 1941. Source: Yad Vashem Archives, Jerusalem, D3116/89
David Stoliar with his wife Adria, 1950s, location unknown. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
