Ilya Fiksel

MADISON- Ilya Iosofovich Fiksel died peacefully and surrounded by love on February 28, 2016 at the age of 87 in Madison, WI.

Ilya was born in 1928 in a small Jewish settlement in Ukraine. His father Iosif was a handyman; his mother Sara stayed at home to raise her children. They had two children - Ilya, and his younger sister Genya.

In 1941 the Nazis occupied their village and immediately killed all adult Jewish men, including Ilya's Dad. Women and children were marched to an extermination camp. They were forced to walk a very long distance on the way to the camp. Many did not survive the walk. During one of the short stops, near the city of Rybnitsa (in present day Moldova), Ilya's mom Sara ordered the kids not to get up and remain lying quietly on the road. The three of them were thought dead by the Romanian police, and this is how they escaped the extermination camp. A Ukrainian woman gave them some food and water. She later showed them the place where all Jews of the city had been settled, which the Nazis turned into a ghetto. There in the ghetto they remained for 18 months in horrible conditions. Their mother Sara saved them from starvation. She was assigned to work as a cleaner at a field military hospital, under the Romanian police surveillance, where she received some bread and soup for her work, and was occasionally able to stash away food scraps in order to feed her children. Sadly, Ilya's sister Genya died in the ghetto from dystrophy.

After the war Ilya returned to finish his high school education and that is where he met the love of his life and wife of nearly 63 years, Ninel (Nella) Babinskaya. He later graduated from the Civil Maritime College in Odessa (a port city on the Black Sea). By an unspoken rule of the Soviet authorities, all Jewish graduates of this college were assigned to work and live on the Far East of the Soviet Union after graduation, so Ilya and Nella went to Vladivostok. They lived there for 40 years. Ilya worked as an engineer, and later as the Chief Engineer (Senior Project Manager), at a Project and Design Department of the Civil Maritime Fleet in Vladivostok.

In Vladivostok, Nella and Ilya raised their two wonderful sons, Gennady (Gena) and Alexander (Alik). They also helped raise their grandchildren, Julia, Kira and Mikhail (Misha). In 1993, Nella and Ilya immigrated to the United States and made a new home in Madison, WI. Their grandson, Jacob was just 10 days old when they arrived in Madison. They were proud to play a special role in his life. In 2000, they were thrilled to become great grandparents to Katya, whom they also helped raise.

Nella and Ilya were resettled by Jewish Social Services. Ilya was a proud volunteer at JSS and served on the Board from 1998 - 2003. Ilya attended the Lechayim lunchtime program and Shabbat Programs at Oakwood Village. Each year, accompanied by his grandson Jacob, he lit a candle at the Community Holocaust Remembrance Service. In 1999, with his honorary American daughter, Janice Beers, by his side, he publicly told his story of survival at a Senior Shabbat Service. Ilya cherished his friendship with his honorary Russian daughter, Irina Ilinich.

Ilya appreciated each day of his life and inspired others to be loving, patient and kind.

Surviving relatives: Loving Wife: Ninel Babinskaya, Sons: Gennady Fiksel (Toni Whited) and Alexander Fiksel( Elena Breyter), Grandchildren: Julia Fixel (Gennady Bekasov), Mikhail Fiksel, Kira Fiksel, Jacob Fiksel, Great grandchild: Katherine Bekasova, Honorary Daughters: Janice Beers (Jacob's Mom) and Irina Ilinich (Kira and Misha's Mom)

A funeral service will be held at Oakwood Village West in Resurrection Chapel, 6205 Mineral Point Road, Madison on Friday, March 4, 2016 at 11am. Burial will follow at Beit Olamim Jewish Cemetery in Sunset Memory Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Jewish Social Services of Madison.

As long as we live, they too will live; for they are now are a part of us; as we remember them.



Cress Funeral Home
3610 Speedway Road, Madison
(608) 238-3434