"You have to decide who you want to marry. You either get married with the army - if you’re in the combat unit - or you marry your woman. I used to think that it’s normal to marry the woman. I wanted to have some posterity when all my family died."
Mr. Petr Bachrach was born on February 5th 1929 in a Polish town called Bielsk. He comes from a Jewish Czech and German speaking family. When WWII began in 1939 his family ran away to Slovakia, where he attended Jewish school until 1942. His whole family except for the uncle from his father's side were transported to concentration camps, where they all died. The same destiny was prepared also for Petr Bachrach. But he managed to escape from the transport train in 1943 and hid in the mountains. After a while he joined a group of partisans and together they participated in several operations during the Slovak National Uprising. After the arrival of the Red Army he was mobilized and remained in the army until the end of the war. Then he left the army with an ENS honor. After the war he became a car repairman and also passed the graduation exams. After Israel was established he signed up for Palmach and fought in the Israeli fight for independence. Despite the fact that he retired from the army in 1952, he was called to duty again in the Sinai war (1956), Six day war (1967) and also to Yom Kippur war (1973). In 1982 he also participated in the operation Peace for Galilea, where one of his sons died. He lived in the Czech Republic during the years 1990 - 2005. After that he returned to Israel, which he considers his home.
