Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Mark and Hertz's name, at birth was Halpern, because, like their paternal grandparents, their parents, Bernard Hasten and Hannah Halpern, declined to pay the marriage tax and were living in an unwed state according to the government.
The two brothers adopted ther father’s name, Hasten, in the mid-1930’s when it appeared that war might break out.

Bernard Hasten secured a horse-drawn wagon and joined the steady stream of Jewish refugees fleeing East, towards Russia.
In addition to his wife, and his two boys, he brought along the four teenaged sons of his friend, Moshe Friedman, the tailor.
In all, 18 Jews fled from Brotchin with the Hasten family, on foot and by wagon, leaving behind 2,500 others who perished in the Holocaust.

Bernard Hasten, and his family reached Stanislawow, where he learned of a military truck traveling to Chortkow.
Bernard Hasten conferred with his friend, Laibele Lappe, and they decided to pay the driver to transport their families on to Chortkow by truck.
Their plan was for Bernard Hasten and Laibele, plus the four Friedman boys, would drive the wagons and join the rest of the families in Chortkow.
Hannah (Halpern) Hasten, Mark and Hertz would arrive in Chortkow sooner, and be able to rest after rheir journey.

Hannah (Halpern) Hasten and her boys got off the truck at Buzcacz, which stood at the crossroads of two major roads, the best place to wait for her husband’s arrival., while Mrs. Lappe decided to remain on the truck all the way to Chortkow.

The Hasten family abandoned their horse and wagon, and boarded a train for Kazakhstan.
They travelled several days to reach Alga, where they sat out the war.

Mark Hasten was attached to the First Warsaw Pontoon Bridge Brigade (Pirewszy Warshawsky Pulk Pont O Nowy Mostowy) and assigned to keep the electrical motors operational.