Reuven Forer (86) was born in Suceava, Romania.
He was only three years old when the Nazis invaded his homeland.
The family was deported to Ukraine by the Romanian army that collaborated with the Nazis.
They escaped from the "death convoy", hid and survived in a small village near Mogilev-Podlask.
When the Red Army arrived to liberate the village, Reuben's father, Herman, volunteered to serve in it to avenge the Germans on the deaths of his family and friends who perished.
Later when they returned to their home in Suceava, they got their home back due to volunteering for the Red Army.
In one of the battles, Assaf Herman, Reuven's father, collected an item that will be used later.
"The Russian soldiers were sent to the battlefield without any equipment," he says.
"In the bag he stockpiled equipment and food, and thus survived the rest of the battles."
According to him, the bag is called a "monkey bag": "There was fur on the outside of the bag so that the bag could also be used as a pillow. From the back it looks like you have fur on your back, hence the name monkey bag," Reuven explains.
When Father Herman returned home after the war he gave Reuben the bag.
Reuben immigrated to Israel in 1948 with the establishment of the state almost destitute, but the little property he had he carried on his back in the German backpack.
"I was 11 years old, and for four years I wandered between kibbutzim and moshavim and witnessed the establishment of the State of Israel, when everything I lied to was symbolically stored in a bag made in Germany. For me it symbolizes the victory over the Nazis."
Later, Reuven stored the backpack he received from his father in the attic of his house in Rehovot.
Less than a year ago, Gal, Reuven's son, began assisting his father in writing his resume.
When he learned of the existence of the case, he went up to Boidem and there found the case of his grandfather, with whom his father immigrated to Eretz Israel.
The case may be outdated, but he said, "It was an exciting moment for me. This case highlights the irony of the war, and embodies the personal story of my father and my grandfather," Gal said.
Yaakov Bardor, CEO of Amek, says that for Holocaust survivors, these objects are a piece of history.
They are a souvenir from home and the girls who were and are gone forever.
For the survivors every such souvenir is a world in its entirety, and they keep it on guard.
"Many times this souvenir plays an important role in their lives, and it gives them strength to move on."
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