The Immigrant Engineer

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 Discover Alek's fascinating immigrant journey, from escaping persecution to finding success in America through hard work and brilliance.

The love story between Alek and his sweetheart, Halina, and how they built a thriving company together is found in the movies...but this story is the result of real life.

This is the story of a Romanian Jew, Alek's mother Sali, her sister and mother, who miraculously survived (only 5% did) the Transnistria Ghetto out of nearly 600,000 extinguished, a father Leo whose first wife and children were murdered by the Nazis, and a self-made man.  

Alek was born in Klodzko, Poland, in 1951. His father’s first wife and two children were burned by the Nazis while inside a synagogue. During the Holocaust, German occupiers forced his mother’s family and nearly 600,000 others to live in a squalid Jewish ghetto for three years, where nearly 95% died of starvation and or typhus.

When Alek was a child, life was brimming with adventures and friendships. He, along with his cousin Milek and their friend Andrzej, enjoyed riding bikes around the neighborhood, playing soccer and other games, exploring lush surroundings and just having fun.

In the evenings or weekends, Alek and his friends would watch his father play soccer, filling their hearts with joy. Alek's mom kept a few chickens in the backyard shack next to their apartment building, and he even took care of a baby chicken named "szarak" for its gray color.

During winter, they relished ice skating and sliding down the icy hill beside their building on sleds, laughing with delight. Inside cousin Gus and Milek's spacious apartment, they played games 'palantem' and 'kijem,' (sort of baseball but using sticks) creating lasting memories.

However, life presented challenges as well. 

Alek clearly recalls the shocking incident when Milek pierced his chin on a sharp balcony fence, and Gus got his leg stuck in a tree. At just five years old, Alek faced ignorance and hatred from an anti-Semitic neighbor in Klodzko. His friend's mother, while using a frying pan told me 

'Your Jewish heart will fry in hell' just like the stuff I'm frying. Despite this prejudice, he found strength and resilience within himself.

Then came the heart-wrenching day when his father was arrested on Alek's birthday, June 19, 1959. 

As the CEO of the Polish Government's company, he faced accusations of lacking oversight, leading to his arrest and a long period of separation from his family.

Amidst both joys and struggles, Alek attended first grade, where his teacher played a significant role in his early education.

Over time, Alek explored more places, riding his bike towards Polanica Zdroj and Duszniki Zdroj, where Chopin had at times performed. However, not all experiences were pleasant, as he had a frightening encounter with Luwszyc's son, leaving him badly beaten and terrified.

Alek visited Spoldzielnia Lewartowska, Klodzko, where his father worked, and he even had the chance to ride with him in the company's truck, distributing and delivering to stores clothing designed and fabricated by the company his father operated as its CEO.

Unfortunately, turbulent times followed, with a men's clothing retail store run by Eda and an accountant stealing a significant sum of money. This led to his father's unjust arrest, though he was eventually exonerated by the Polish government.

The memories of German-built bunkers called 'twierdza' at the town exit towards Polanica Zdroj remain etched in Alek's mind, serving as a constant reminder of the past.

Reflecting on those early years, Alek feels a mix of emotions - from joy and laughter to hardship and pain. Each memory has shaped him into the person he is today, cherished and grateful for the experiences that molded him.

Persuaded/forced by the government to leave Poland, mass emigration of Polish Jews occurred as antisemitism became rampant in the late  ’60s, including this young man’s entire family.

His family finally left Poland in 1969. The government barred them from taking anything, even passports as their citizenship was voided forever. “You had nothing except a small card that said you were an escapee,” he says. 

The family eventually made it to the U.S. a year later, and along the way, he reconnected with Halina, a girl he knew from a 1965 summer camp in Poland. She would eventually become his wife.

His aunts, uncles, cousins, and parents all fled Poland via the first stop along the way in Vienna, Austria late 1969.

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) gave them options for a new country, his parents and family chose America. His sister Melita immigrated to Israel the year before.

Pushing a cart with 3 suitcases on the train platform in Vienna, this young man looks and sees his friend, Halina, that girl from the summer camp in Kwidzyn..

Her family miraculously (Alek's true love and life partner) also decided on America.

Traveling to Rome they spent the entire night talking, laughing, reminiscing, and getting to know each other – this time as adults. Both families remained in Rome for several months while being vetted, eventually receiving entry visas to the USA. 

As destiny had it, both families were to leave on the same day, April 9, 1970, and on the same flight. Now, sitting next to each other on the plane to their new country they wondered aloud “What will it be like?”

Arriving in New York City, a dramatically different world appeared in front of them in comparison to the communist murky Poland they left behind. Yet again, they had to be separated, her family sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and his by The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.

While settling in their distant cities, the young man and “that girl” would not lose touch this time.

Education

Alek’s family settled in Atlanta, where their new friend, mentor, and a Holocaust survivor herself, Mrs. Clara Eisenstei, seeing future potential, took him to meet the Georgia Institute of Technology dean Dull with hopes he may consider letting Alek study there. 

This teenager from Poland did not finish high school, had no school documentation, no diploma or SAT scores, and spoke no English. In that meeting, he watched with intensity his benefactor with mascara smeared around her face and the dean communicating, in English, a language he did not understand. After the meeting, his benefactor grabbed his arm and announced in stern Polish “You’re being admitted, on probation, so study hard or else!”

Imagine this young man, in a span of a few years, now in a new country, a new culture, not finishing high school, no knowledge of English, no SAT scores, getting by at a top university? By the spring of 1971, his new life’s chapter at Georgia Tech began.

Majoring in electrical engineering he first focused on learning English while studying math, physics, chemistry, circuit design, digital signal processing, and computer programming. 11 quarters later he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, matriculating in March of 1974 and Master's in 1980. 

He graduated with high honors and, after a series of “boring” jobs, accepted a position at Solid State Systems, a company that designed and built PBX telephone systems.

And he and “that” girl married one quarter before graduation, Sep 8, 1973.