Born February 22, 1925   |   Domaczevo (Domatcheva), Poland (now Damachava, Belarus)

Died June 23, 2006   |   Ramat Efal, Israel

I love you, I love you, I love you.

Sevek was born to Israel and Fela Szapiro, who owned a successful café and bakery in Brest-Litovsk. When the business was destroyed during a pogrom, the family moved to Pinsk. After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the family was able to flee further east and then south, eventually ending up in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. When his father contracted malaria, Sevek went to find medicine, but his father passed away before he was able to return. Plagued by starvation, malaria and typhus, Sevek and his brother Heniek lived in a school for refugees. There Sevek met his beloved Sara. They eloped to Kazakhstan under assumed names after Sara became pregnant.

After the war, Sevek and his family boarded a train to Poland to search for living relatives. While en route, Sevek had to be pulled to safety when antisemites attacked him with an axe. When they had the opportunity to immigrate to Canada, Sara told Sevek that he could go with his family, but she believed her destiny was in the nascent state of Israel. Sevek responded, “You are my family.” Sevek fought bravely during the 1948 War of Independence, helping to free Jaffa, where he, Sara and their sons Eliezer and Israel lived for a time. Though severely injured in an accident while driving a tank carrier during the 1956 Suez War, Sevek bravely saved the lives of other soldiers. After working for the Israel Electric Corporation until his retirement, Sevek and Sara enjoyed spending time in Calgary and Edmonton, Canada. Their sons had immigrated to Canada, and the family enjoyed spending time at their cottage in Lake Simcoe, Ontario. Sevek was a generous and loving man who liked good food, a nice beverage and the odd cigarette. His legacy includes 15 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.