The document that Scott G. shared with me. Zysel is line 79. I know that Lejzor Feuer, line 77, was also a cousin.
I am thinking a lot about Zysel/Ziesel Feuer this week, a cousin of my grandfather’s who survived the Shoah. This weekend another Tracing the Tribe member, Scott G. shared a document with me that lists the names of the survivors from Mielic, Galicia, Austria/Poland. And on that list is my relative: Zysel Feuer. Even though I knew he was a survivor, seeing his name on that list just broke my heart. I see him again in my mind, and I am sad.
Scott is working on a project to get all the names of survivors and victims of the Shoah from Mielic, Austria/Poland. I contacted him with the names I could share. My grandfather’s entire family except for a few cousins died. The last names Amsterdam, Feuer, Brenner and Hollander were all in some way related to me. And many perished.
I have written about Ziesel before. He went to Israel after the war. And lived there until his death. I met him when I went to Israel for my sophomore year of college in 1974. I would visit him in Tel Aviv, whenever I went there from Jerusalem where I was studying. I first met him because my grandmother sent me on a mission. I wrote about that in an earlier blog (see link below).
When my parents came to visit, during my winter break, I took them to see Ziesel as well. His roommate, also a Holocaust survivor, was home when we arrived. With no phones it was difficult to make definite appointments. His roommate told us that Ziesel was at shul davening and we should go and call for him. My Dad was embarrassed. So, the man went with us.
“Ziesel, Ziesel Feuer,” he called through the doorway. “Come here, your family is here.” Of course, he called for him in a loud Yiddish/Hebrew whisper. “Ziesel, Ziesel, comen ous, eir mishpacha du.”
My Dad told that story for years. Standing outside a small shul in Tel Aviv, watching the elderly men daven. And having this embarrassing moment. I however, was not embarrassed. Not me, six months in to living in Israel in 1974-75 and nothing surprised me anymore. Having to call someone out of services was no big deal. I knew he wanted to see my parents. We had discussed their visit when I last saw him, and I promised to bring them to his apartment. He was especially looking forward to seeing my mother.
Ziesel left services as soon as he saw us. We all walked back to the apartment. Dad and Ziesel speaking Yiddish. Mom adding a comment or two. They spoke about the Shoah and what had happened to him. And my mother cried. I do remember how happy he was that we came to visit him. We had cake and tea, and then we left. For my mother it was especially difficult.
Ziesel lost his family in the Shoah. His wife and children were murdered. He could no longer have any other children. He told me that the Nazis did terrible things to him. He did not remarry. When I met him, he was working in a bakery across from the shuk in Tel Aviv. I now know his wife was Dvorah, my grandfather’s first cousin. The daughter of Zachariah. Ziesel entered her in the Yad VShem data base. But not his children.
Now I wish I could go back in time to my 19-year-old self, and say, “Ask more questions! What did he do when he got to Israel. How did he get there? Ask more, be more interested.” But I was just 19. Whenever I saw him, he would mainly ask me how I was doing. He was more interested in me, than I realized at the time. I gave him family for a year.
I do know that it was Zysel/Ziesel who contacted my grandfather after the war. It was Ziesel who told him that everyone had died. My grandfather only had four cousins who survived. Ziesel and one other are on this list. The other I did not know well. But Ziesel was part of my life. Although I have no photos of him, I really do not need one. He looked so much like my grandfather. They could have been brothers, not cousins.
In 1976 I took my grandma to Israel to see her brother and her family. (See link below.) She also went to see Ziesel. That was a different type of meeting. Ziesel had stolen something from her in 1931. My original contact with Ziesel had to do with him paying off that debt. Their meeting was more an acknowledgement of the debt being paid and the past released. I think he felt relief after speaking to my grandma.
I was not a part of their conversation. That was the last time I saw Ziesel.
https://zicharonot.com/2014/07/06/a-strand-of-pearls-is-not-just-jewelry-it-is-a-circle-of-love/
https://zicharonot.com/2014/04/28/speaking-yiddish-always-brings-me-holocaust-memories/
zicharonot 
It is so amazing to me that you were able to connect with him so well and so often. And I know what you mean about wishing you’d asked more questions. That is every family historian’s regret.
Those surnames—Hollander and Amsterdam in particular—make me wonder if at some time you had family in the Netherlands.
Yes. We know our family went firm Spain to Amsterdam. Read this early blog: https://zicharonot.com/2014/06/09/as-spain-welcomes-back-jews-expelled-in-the-1400s-i-share-my-spanish-roots/
When I came back from Israel is when I started asking my grandparents about their families.
So you are Sephardic? I will go read the older post. Thanks!
Mainly Ashkenazi.
Have you done DNA testing?
Yes. I was mainly Ashkenazi.
What a meaningful meeting for you. The project that Scott is working on is so important.
His project really has meaning to so many! I hope he can succeed.