Sheila was the only child born to Bela and Isaac Perec (also spelled Peretz in English) in Chełm, Poland. Her name at birth was Sala. Chełm was home to a vibrant Jewish community. Before the war, her family owned a large building on Lubelska Street, and Sheila’s father managed a Singer sewing machine business. Sheila’s parents both had large, close-knit families, and her childhood was filled with love and joy.
In fall 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland and occupied the town. Her father and uncle fled east to the Soviet-occupied part of Poland, assuming the Nazis would target men and spare women and children. Sheila’s father attempted to return to Chełm, but both he and Sheila’s uncle were killed by the Germans.
When German authorities created a ghetto in Chełm, Sheila, her mother, aunt and uncle, and their children were forced to move in together into one small apartment. In the ghetto, life was hard and food was scarce. Bela was required to perform forced labor outside the ghetto, leaving Sheila in the care of her aunt Itta, Bela’s sister. One day, the Nazis raided the apartment, killing many of the children and Sheila’s aunt. Fearing that Sheila would be killed in future killing operations, Sheila’s mother arranged to bring her with her to work. She bribed a guard to sneak Sheila out of the ghetto each morning. While Bela worked, Sheila would hide. At first, she hid in the grass, while Bela worked in a field. Later, she hid in an attic above the factory where her mother worked.
Bela was able to obtain help from a Polish policeman and family friend named Grzegorz Czyżyk. He had cancer and wished to do something nice before he died. He agreed to hide Sheila and her mother even though the rest of his family opposed the plan. They were afraid they would be caught and killed for helping Jews. After spending two years hiding (first in an underground potato storage space and later in a shack that served as a wood shed and chicken coop), the Soviets liberated Sheila and Bela.
Two weeks later, Czyżyk died of his illness. Within a year, Sheila’s mother died of a pulmonary embolism. An agency locating Jewish orphans found and took care of Sheila in Dornstadt in the American Zone of Occupied Germany for two years. In 1947, at age 11, Sheila immigrated to British-controlled Mandatory Palestine where she finished her education. In Israel, she married her husband and had a daughter before immigrating to the United States in 1963. Czyżyk was granted the status Righteous Among the Nations in 2013. Sheila volunteered at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.