During a visit to Auschwitz, a 17-year-old from the Bronx, New York, unexpectedly uncovered an 80-year-old family mystery, bringing long-sought closure to his family by revealing a missing piece of their painful past.
While touring an exhibition of haunting children’s drawings depicting guards, guns, and trains at the infamous death camp, the teen, named Yuval, made a life-altering discovery: the name of his grandfather’s brother, 13-year-old Freddy Popper, among the artwork.
Freddy’s fate had remained a mystery, lost to history after the brothers were separated from their home in Slovakia.
‘Until now, Freddy’s fate was just rumors,’ Yuval told the New York Post. ‘This trip gave my family proof and closure we never imagined possible.’
The Holocaust had irrevocably altered the course of Michael Popper’s life, leaving a void where his older brother Freddy once stood.
At just 10 years old, Michael was sheltered in the mountains, hidden in a Christian family’s barn, while Freddy was sent to live with relatives in Budapest.
Tragically, Freddy’s aunt and uncle, both pharmacists, poisoned themselves before the Nazi invasion, hoping their deaths might improve Freddy’s survival chances if he were discovered.
While Michael survived, the mystery of his brother’s fate haunted him until his death in 2020.
During a visit to Auschwitz, a teenager unexpectedly unlocked an 80-year-old family mystery, finally providing the family with closure by revealing a missing piece of their painful past
While visiting Auschwitz, Yuval made a life-altering discovery: the name of his grandfather’s brother, 13-year-old Freddy Popper
For Yuval, the trip, part of the Friends of Israel Scouts group (Tzofim North America), was deeply personal.
‘I thought of thousands of scenarios about what would happen on the trip,’ he said ‘And I couldn’t have imagined it would be [solving] this family mystery.’
Yuval’s mother, Michal Poran, the New York chapter leader who accompanied the delegation, described the moment as earth-shattering.
‘I saw the name and my heart stopped. I couldn’t catch my breath. It healed something that’s been broken for generations,’ said Poran, 46, who immediately sent a photo of her uncle’s name to her own mother.
The emotional discovery came in the summer of 2024, just months after the October 7 massacre in Israel, which claimed thousands of lives and ignited the Israel-Hamas war.
‘Past and present tragedies intertwined, amplifying the importance of connecting our youth to their heritage,’ Yaniv Biran, CEO of Tzofim North America, told The Post.
For Yuval, the transformative experience became the foundation of his college essay.
He described standing at the cemetery, overwhelmed by a sense of connection to his ancestors
At just 10 years old, Michael (right) was hidden in a Christian family’s barn, while Freddy was sent to live with relatives in Budapest, but Freddy’s fate remained a mystery (Pictured: Michael and Yuval’s mother as a child)
‘I felt as if my entire family – generations and generations of my family – were standing with me, behind me, holding onto me,’ the teen said of the life-changing moment.
‘I really wish my saba [grandpa] could have seen this and we could have talked about it,’ said Yuval.
Reflecting on the tragedy of his great-uncle’s death at such a young age, Yuval said, ‘It would have been sad, but I think he would have been proud of me for going on this trip and finding this piece of family history.’
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
