The oldest of three children, Abram was born to Jewish parents in the small, predominantly Jewish town of Kaluszyn, 35 miles east of Warsaw. Abram's father owned a wholesale grocery store, a restaurant and a gas station, all of which were located on the heavily traveled main road. Abram went to public elementary school and also received religious instruction.

1933-39: I was 21 when the Germans invaded Poland. My father, brother Majlech and I fled eastward towards the Soviet Union because we were afraid that the Germans would send us away to forced labor. When we heard that German forces had engaged Polish troops in a battle at Kaluszyn and that our town had been heavily bombed, we had to return home to see if my mother and my sister, Chaie Sura, were safe.