TEL AVIV/MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Willenberg was born in southern Poland in 1923 and witnessed the invasion of his country by the Nazi army at age 16 in 1939. After the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto of Opatow in 1941, Willenberg was sent to the Treblinka camp, where up to 900,000 people are estimated to have been killed.
Willenberg was among the several hundred Jews who revolted and broke free from Treblinka in 1943.
He returned to Warsaw, found his father and joined the underground resistance.
After the end of World War II, Willenberg moved to Israel in 1950, where he worked as a civil servant. After his retirement, Willenberg gained prominence as a sculptor whose work was dedicated to the Holocaust.
Willenberg is survived by his wife, daughter and three grandchildren. He is expected to be buried in Netanya on February 22.
