In 2011, Wim Leydes, an immigrant to Milwaukee from the Netherlands, met Harry (Hersh Zvi) Makowski.
They found that they “clicked very well,” to the point that “I often refer to him as my grandfather, and he refers to me as his grandson,” Leydes said.
But in addition, Leydes, who has a long-standing interest in the Holocaust and related subjects, discovered that Makowski had a remarkable biography.
Makowski served in the Jewish Brigade organized by the British Army during the final months of World War II and served in Israel’s War of Independence of 1948.
Leydes told that story in a 2013 book, “My Jewish Journey.” Moreover, his and Makowski’s collections of photographs and other World War II memorabilia are now on loan to the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear, where a room is being devoted to an exhibit featuring them and information about the Jewish partisans.
Leydes gave a presentation about Makowski’s life at the museum on June 6, the 70th anniversary of the World War II landing at Normandy in France in 1944.
Makowski, 92, was born in a small town in Poland. When he was 8, his family moved to the predominantly German city of Danzig. His father was a Jewish scholar and religious teacher who declined rabbinical ordination. He also produced a large family, with Harry being the youngest of nine.
Makowski had “a very good childhood,” even though “there was a lot of anti-Semitism going on,” Leydes said. But as the war approached, members of his family tried to get out of the country.
Some succeeded, going to the U.S., where two of his sisters ended up in Milwaukee. Makowski himself ended up on an illegal immigrant ship bound for Palestine.
The British captured the ship and took him to the Beau Bassin Prison on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. He stayed there for more than four years until the British organized the Jewish Brigade in 1944 and asked for volunteers. He was one of 53 Jews from the prison to enlist.
His service there took him to Kenya, Egypt, Belgium and the Netherlands. When the war ended, Makowski was sent to then-Palestine, where he joined the Hagganah, the predecessor to the Israel Defense Force.
He served in the War of Independence, training soldiers and being among the first Israelis to enter Israel’s southern-most city of Eilat. He came to Milwaukee in 1956.
Leydes is not Jewish, but World War II was part of his childhood. His grandfather fought in the Dutch Army during the war and told him stories. But when he was in grade school and learned about the Holocaust, “it just grabbed me. I had this urge just to find out more about it,” he said.
He added that he is not “a World War II buff” in the sense of being interested in the military history, though he has some military memorabilia, but he is more involved in “the personal stories.”
When he came to Milwaukee, he not only met Makowski, but also started “studying beyond the Holocaust,” including “what happened to the survivors.”
He feels a powerful urge to learn more and to share what he has learned with others. He has given many presentations, including at Nicolet High School, has visited Israel and is learning Hebrew and working on his second book, he said.
The exhibit is running through July 13, according to the museum website. Copies of Leydes’ book are available there for purchase.
The museum is located in a house at 839 N. 11th St. in Milwaukee. It is open Wednesdays-Sundays. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, and free for children under six.
For more information, call 414-273-1680 or visit chudnowmuseum.org.
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