Zelman Sioma Rosenberg

Zelman was born in Edinet (Yedenitz), in the year 1919. He had 1 sister and 5 brothers. He was the youngest brother by 10 years. The Rosenbergs owned and operated a successful soap factory. In 1940 his family left Edinet after the Soviets took Bessarabia from Romanian control, entered Edinet and seized control of their soap factory. The family went to Czernowitz, a bigger city, so they could be more annonymous. When the Nazis and Romanias retook Bucovina and Bessarabia, the Rosenbergs used their knwoledge of soap making to save their lives. In particular Zelman created a way of producing a hard soap out of sunflower oil, which saved his family. (you can listen to him tell his story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghDEwJIDLtM&t=11s). Zelman was sent to numerous labor camps, and survived mutliple times through his friendships and cunning. After WWII Zelman and the res of the Rosenbergs made their way to Bucharest. In Bucharest they began to produce soap, again in hiding from the communist rule.