Pola ARBISER

ARBISER, Pola Pola Arbiser, 85, of Decatur, died peacefully in her home on Sunday, July 20, 2014. Born on September 23, 1928 in Drohobycz, Poland (now Ukraine), daughter of Sara and Israel Bienstock, of blessed memory. She was a Holocaust survivor and a hidden child. Along with her sister and her mother, Pola was hidden for three years by Francesca (Frania) Sobkowa, a courageous Polish Catholic woman, who has since been recognized as a Righteous Gentile by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Institute for risking her life to save Pola's family. In 1950, two years after the formation of the State of Israel, Pola, like many Holocaust survivors moved there to continue building the country. In Israel she trained in medical microbiology and obtained a degree from Hebrew University. In 1960, she and her husband Samuel Arbiser (of blessed memory) moved to Atlanta where she obtained a Masters degree in microbiology from Emory University. After starting a family, Pola became an integral part of the company Sam had just started. The Arbiser Machine Building Company became renowned for innovative design of custom machinery. Notably, Pola worked alongside Sam at Arbiser Machine Building Company for forty years. Their marriage was a happy and productive love affair which lasted for over sixty years. Among the accomplishments she was most proud of was finding jobs for newly arrived Russian immigrants in the Atlanta area. Pola wrote Give Me the Children, a memoir of her experiences during the Holocaust as a tribute to Frania and to remind people of the lasting effect a single individual can have when they stand up to fight evil and injustice. She was passionate about Holocaust education and was active at the Breman Jewish Museum, where she was a frequent popular speaker and where she and Sam dedicated the Arbiser Family Theater. Pola was a member of Congregation Beth Jacob since 1972. She was preceded in death by her husband, Samuel Arbiser, who died six months earlier. Surviving are her son, Jack and daughter-in-law Zoya Arbiser; daughter, Sherry Arbiser; seven grandchildren: Ethan, Adam and Joseph Arbiser, and Jordan, Marlee, Ilan, and Zoe Bagel; and her sister, Irene Frisch. Donations may be made to Congregation Beth Jacob of Atlanta or the William Breman Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Museum. Services were held Monday, July 21, 2014 at Crest Lawn Memorial Park, with Rabbi Ilan Feldman officiating. Please sign online guestbook at www.edressler. com. Arrangements by Dressler's Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta (770) 451-4999