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Police: War Hero Preys on Neighbor

Elderly Holocaust survivor swindled, abandoned in Poland

By Rob Wagner,  Newser User

Posted Feb 19, 2008 4:55 PM CST
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(Newser) – A Holocaust hero who with his brothers saved 1,200 Jews in one of the largest  armed rescues during World War II is accused of bilking a survivor of about $250,000, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Aron Bell dumped a 93-year-old Catholic survivor at a nursing home in Poland and then spent her money, Florida prosecutors allege.

Bell, 80, born Aron Bielski, and his wife, Henryka, 58, of Palm Beach, Fla., face  90 years imprisonment. Police say the couple befriended Janina Zaniewska who lived nearby and talked her into turning over her bank accounts. The couple is free on bail. Bell and his three older brothers were Polish partisans hiding Jews in their encampment while fighting  Germans.

In this undated photo provided by the Yad Vashem Archives, shows a group of freedom fighters, including Aron Bielski, front row center. As a young boy in Poland during World War II, Bielski and his brothers stood defiantly against the Nazis by most accounts, mounted the largest armed rescue of...
In this undated photo provided by the Yad Vashem Archives, shows a group of freedom fighters, including Aron Bielski, front row center. As a young boy in Poland during World War II, Bielski and his brothers...   (Associated Press)
Aron Bell is seen in this undated Palm Beach County Sheriff's office booking photo. As a young boy in Poland during World War II, Aron Bielski and his brothers stood defiantly against the Nazis and, by most accounts, mounted the largest armed rescue of Jews by Jews during the Holocaust....
Aron Bell is seen in this undated Palm Beach County Sheriff's office booking photo. As a young boy in Poland during World War II, Aron Bielski and his brothers stood defiantly against the Nazis and, by...   (Associated Press)
Henryka Bell is seen in this undated Palm Beach County Sheriff's office booking photo. In Eastern Europe during World War II, young Aron Bielski and his three older brothers mounted what was, by most accounts, the biggest armed rescue of Jews by Jews during the Holocaust. But now, the sole...
Henryka Bell is seen in this undated Palm Beach County Sheriff's office booking photo. In Eastern Europe during World War II, young Aron Bielski and his three older brothers mounted what was, by most...   (Associated Press)
In this undated photo provided by the Yad Vashem Archives, shows a group of freedom fighters, including Aron Bielski, front row center. As a young boy in Poland during World War II, Bielski and his brothers stood defiantly against the Nazis by most accounts, mounted the largest armed rescue of...
In this undated photo provided by the Yad Vashem Archives, shows a group of freedom fighters, including Aron Bielski, front row center. As a young boy in Poland during World War II, Bielski and his brothers...   (Associated Press)
Aron Bell is seen in this undated Palm Beach County Sheriff's office booking photo. As a boy in Poland during World War II, Bell, then known as Aron Bielski and others fought the Nazis, mounting the largest armed rescue of Jews by Jews during the Holocaust. Now Bell is facing...
Aron Bell is seen in this undated Palm Beach County Sheriff's office booking photo. As a boy in Poland during World War II, Bell, then known as Aron Bielski and others fought the Nazis, mounting the largest...   (Associated Press)
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Kidnapping Charge Dropped Against Aron, Henryka Bell
Palm Beach Daily News

The Bielski Brothers
HarperCollins

Defiance: The Bielski Partisans
Oxford University Press

Pair Accused of Fraud Can Go Back to Condo
Palm Beach Post

 
Poland • Holocaust • survivors • Palm Beach • hero

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