zaida, or my friend Frank

Frank shared photos of his — i think relatively recent — trip back to Poland for Holocaust Remebrance Day. he went with his wife and grandchildren.

i love this picture because it shows the ethos and gravitas of the day.

Frank was fortunate to survive the Shoah — he was a young boy during the war. his whole family was killed.

this is his website:
http://internex.net.au/~fdobia/

zaida
Originally uploaded by Erika_Herzog 

because of the time of my extended family’s emigration (somewhat early — abt 1895 to abt 1910), i have no Holocaust surivivors in my immediate tree. there are extended family members who were killed, of course, knowing how large Jewish families were in Poland. plus there are Yad Vashem records for some of the branches. the daunting thing is that i’m sure there are more people in my extended tree who were killed, but the records are very difficult to reconstruct.

anyway, Frank is my first firsthand exposure to a survivor. i’m amazed at his innate sense of humor and his ability to tell stories that move me to tears. Frank is a gift.

~ by Erika Herzog on January 28, 2009.