New Bedford Holocaust Survivor’s Dream Lives at Buttonwood Park

There is hope that a lasting peace may finally be near in the Middle East, a region of the world torn apart by conflict for many centuries.

Peace in the Middle East is something that Abe Landau dreamed of but would never see, having passed away in 2000, two years after realizing another dream: a Holocaust Memorial in his adopted hometown of New Bedford.

Abraham Wolfe Landau and his wife Freida settled their family in New Bedford in 1950. Landau, a Holocaust survivor, survived 13 concentration and labor camps, including Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau and Buna.

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Early Life in Poland

According to the UMass Dartmouth Archives, Landau was born on April 25, 1922, in Wilczyn, Poland: "In 1931, at age 9, he and his family moved to Kaliisz, Poland, and then back to Wilzyn in 1933."

Surviving the Holocaust

The Archives state, "In March of 1940, the family was evacuated, along with thousands of other Jews, and sent to the infamous Zagorow ghetto. In August of 1941, Landau was separated from his family and sent to ZAL Inowroclaw, a forced labor camp."

The record shows Landau would never see his family again.

Landau was eventually liberated from captivity by British and American forces on April 15, 1945. He weighed 78 pounds.

Life After Liberation

Landau met his future wife, Freida, at Bergen-Belsen. They married in 1946. After spending several years in Germany, the Lanaus traveled to America, where they settled in New Bedford.

Creating the New Bedford Holocaust Memorial

The UMass Claire T. Carney Library reports that, under the auspices of the Holocaust Education Committee of the Greater New Bedford Jewish Federation, Landau, Ed Rudnick and Peter London raised funds from the community for a Holocaust Memorial in New Bedford.

The Holocaust Memorial in Buttonwood Park was erected in May 1998 on Rockdale Avenue near the corner of Hawthorn Street.