Remembering Holocaust Survivor Mike Walsh, 95

We mourn the loss of Holocaust survivor Mike Walsh, who passed away in February at the age of 95.

Childhood Interrupted

Mike was born Mordechai Waks in 1930 in the Ukrainian village of Male Werbzce. The youngest of six, he grew up on a small farm, speaking Yiddish at home. His days were filled with chores alongside his brother Yakov, as well as writing poetry and singing.

In late 1941, German soldiers occupied the family’s home. One soldier pulled Mike’s father aside with a confession and a warning. Mike recalled that the soldier said, “‘I am Jewish… you better try to escape somewhere, because in Germany and in Poland, they’re killing the Jews.’”

Despite brief protection from neighbors and local law enforcement, Mike, his parents, and siblings were forced into the Stepan ghetto. Mike managed to escape and hide with a nearby farmer. His brother later fled as well, selling family possessions for food and smuggling them back to the ghetto.

“It is a matter of survival,” Mike said in his testimony, “You don't think much. You just think on a daily basis.”

In August 1942, Mike returned to the ghetto to be with his family. That night, before dawn, German soldiers and Ukrainian collaborators began liquidating the ghetto and deporting families to concentration camps. The family hid in the attic until they were forced to jump out a window and escape to hide in a nearby barn.

“When we heard the voices, there was crying and screaming… My mother told me to jump. So I jumped from the window… and then my mother jumped after me.”

They hid in a nearby barn. Mike’s father and sister were captured.

A Final Goodbye

While attempting to return home, a farmer seized Mike and his mother to turn them in. After a failed attempt to bribe the farmer, Mike’s mother made a split-second decision: telling Mike to run. He did, and never saw his mother again.

A Child Among Partisans

Alone, Mike found refuge with a friend, then reunited with his three brothers. Together, they sought out Soviet partisan groups. At just 13, Mike joined a unit under Anton Brinskii (nicknamed Diadia Petia) as a spy. Mike and his brothers were among the few Jewish fighters in mostly Russian forces.

Mike “went dressed as a Ukrainian kid into the villages and found out where the Germans are stationed so the partisans could attack them.”

He lived in a forest bunker alongside thousands, surviving until liberation in 1944.

Starting Over

Mike and his brothers returned to Stepan.

“Everything was taken away from us. Everybody was killed. But we didn't know of any other place,” Mike remembered of his return.

Mike eventually made his way to Poland, where a Jewish organization placed him in an orphanage. He trained as an auto mechanic and began rebuilding his life.

Fighting for a Homeland 

In 1948, Mike joined a Zionist movement and traveled to Israel, eager to fight. He served in the Seventh Brigade of Palmach and later became a mechanic for the Israeli Air Force.

“It was the first time in my life [I was] a free man… Even if I had to die, I would die for my country,” Mike said of his time in Israel.

Building a Family 

Mike later immigrated to Canada and worked for Air Canada. In 1957, he married his wife, Sonia. “It was actually the happiest day of my life… because I’ve never really had a family.”

Together, they raised three daughters, Anna, Yona, and Sheila. The family later settled in Toronto, where Mike built a long career, and watched his daughters graduate from college and grow their own families.

Bearing Witness

Mike began speaking about his experiences later in life. In 1996, he recorded his testimony with the USC Shoah Foundation.

“I would like the people, that someday when we are gone…to see what happened to us and how it happened and how innocent people were taken and being tortured and murdered. And the world should know what happened to us.”

Mike Walsh’s life was one of unimaginable loss and extraordinary resilience.

May his memory be a blessing.