"The Sun Shines for Me as Well"- The Story of Saadia Bahat

Saadia Bahat was born in Alytus, Lithuania in 1928. After the outbreak of World War II, Saadia's family moved to Vilna. Following the German invasion of Lithuania in June 1941. In September of that year, the family was put into the Vilna ghetto. During one of the forced deportations from the ghetto, Saadia's father was murdered. His mother managed to save Saadia and his sister. Saadia later began working in a ghetto workshop, learning carpentry, locksmithy and smithy. In late 1943 he was taken to labor camps in Estonia, where he carried out forced labor felling forests. After the evacuation of the Estonian camps, Saadia was transferred to Stutthof concentration camp and then to the Gotentof camp. The camp was liberated in March 1945 by the Soviet Red Army. In 1946 Saadia immigrated to pre-state Israel, enlisting in the Hagana and Palmach (pre-state army and elite unit). He later studied machine engineering, serving in research and development roles and then as a senior engineer in the Israeli security establishment. In parallel, Saadia continued his artistic endeavors, which he had started before the Holocaust. Dozens of his solo exhibitions, as well as his statues, have been displayed in Israel and internationally. Saadia married Yehudit (Dit) and they have three children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.