Raul Teitelbaum was born in 1931 in Prizren (in Kosovo, then Yugoslavia) into a Jewish family. His parents, Paula and Josef, were originally from Galicia; his father was a doctor. Following the German occupation, his father was initially taken into custody, and later the whole family was arrested. The Teitelbaums were liberated from a camp in Albania by partisans, with whom they lived in hiding in the mountains for several months. In May 1944, they were arrested again and deported to several camps. From June 1944, the Teitelbaum family were held in the exchange camp at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
The family left Bergen-Belsen on one of the three evacuation transports in April 1945. Both parents were already weak and suffering from typhus during the journey. Following their Liberation near Tröbitz, Raul’s father died at the end of April 1945. Raul returned to Prizren with his mother in June 1945; soon afterwards they moved to Belgrade, where Raul completed his school-leaving exams. In 1949, he and his mother emigrated to Israel, where Raul first completed his military service and pursued a career as an officer, then studied history and economics.
As a journalist, Raul Teitelbaum worked for decades for various major Israeli newspapers and wrote several books – including on the compensation practices for Nazi victims – and also lived in Germany for a number of years as a foreign correspondent.
In 2002, a life story interview with Raul Teitelbaum lasting several hours took place in Jerusalem; this is held in our collection, as are several of his oil paintings, which he bequeathed to us.
Raul Teitelbaum visited the Bergen-Belsen Memorial on several occasions. In 1995, he conducted research in our archive for one of his books; in 2008, he took part in the ‘Contemporary Witnesses in Dialogue’ programme; and in 2010 and 2015, he attended the commemorative ceremonies.
We will remember Raul Teitelbaum as a warm, intelligent and charismatic person.