Do Something for Uncle Kazik and Have a Sweet New Year
It's been a long while since I wrote a blog. During the interim, we have relocated and have been busy settling in. I've been wanting to get back to blogging, yet I have not yet possessed the focus to do that.
We are now less than a week before Rosh HaShana (the Jewish New Year). Just yesterday, I received the below message from a good friend of mine. I asked her permission to share her story on My Simple Emes.
The story struck me so strongly. It is sad. And at the same time, it gave me so many things for which to be grateful. It is a personal lesson of a family affected by the holocaust and of the children of survivors who are still dealing with these daily effects even after the survivors have passed away. This is a sobering story and my guess is that if we all take time for introspection, there is something for each of us to learn here. Most of all, as my friend requests, please do something for her uncle's memory. This is the perfect time.
* Bracketed words are my addition. the rest of the text is verbatim as I received it.
My uncle died last week. He was my mother’s brother. He was a man who was greatly affected by the holocaust but never to his own admission. My Polish grandmother married my non Jewish grandfather before the war and by the time the war broke out they had four kids. After the German invasion of Poland my grandfather was taken to a work camp and my grandmother went into hiding. The kids were left in the charge of a polish woman , who is admirable for having saved them but I understand she was paid a lot of money but underfed the kids and beat them though she didn’t betray them. Somehow - it was never spoken of- they all survived the war my grandparents reunited and made a decision not to tell the children about their Jewish connection. Not one of my grandmother's relatives had survived. They continued their life in communist Poland as good Catholics till 1955 when the Polish government decided to allow Jews to immigrate to Israel. My mother woke up one morning at the age of 15 and her mother told her she was Jewish and by the way they were moving to Israel the next day. It was a shock she never really got over. I won’t go into all the details but they saw Israel as a steppingstone to the west and found themselves in Australia. My uncle lived with my grandparents for many years. When he finally bought an apartment it was on the floor above his mother who cooked for him till her death. My mother used to look out for him but as you know she died many years ago. He never had his own family never had friends. I hadn’t seen or spoken to him in many years. Apparently he died of malnutrition and there is to be an autopsy in the next two weeks as to how that happened. My frum [religious] sister and I tried to get the remaining sister to agree to a Jewish funeral but she laughed and said 'who would come?' He was alone in this world and she’s having him cremated [which is against Jewish Law}. We are in Hodesh Elul [the Hebrew month of Elul]- a time of introspection. Bezerat HaShem [with G-d's Help] we are trying to do good deeds and think of others. So I’m asking that when you are involved in mitzvot this week. Think of my uncle and do a good deed in his memory. His name Kazik ben Fran. May we all have a sweet year full of blessings, happiness and good health.