I am cleaning out my cedar chest. I had no idea what was piled up inside. But surprises keep coming! My biggest surprise find was a jacket belonging to my mother. I honestly forgot it was there. I thought I had lost it in my many moves years ago. But here it is: A grayish brown wool jacket. It is definitely from the late 1940s/early 1950s in both style and by history.
This is not just any jacket. It was made by my mother’s uncles. I am not sure which one, either David or Isaac. They survived the Shoah because they were tailors. When they escaped Poland they headed into Russia, where I am told they worked making soldiers’ uniforms. I have no proof of this. But that is the story I was told.
After the war, they ended up in Italy first, where they waited for papers. My uncles had my grandmother and another sister in the United States. My aunts had relatives, sisters I think, in Australia. They decided they would go to live in whatever country and near whoever sent visas first. They just wanted out of Europe and away from fear.
The visas came from Australia. So they went to Melbourne. This jacket was made by my uncles in Melbourne after they settled there and sent to my mother in the United States. Can you image? I can’t.
I know they were in contact throughout their journey of survival. I know that my grandmother and aunt tried to get them visas to the USA and sent them money to survive after the war.
I know that they helped to support them throughout their lives. My Uncle David died when he was in his late 30s in Australia. He is buried in a Jewish cemetery in Melbourne. Eventually the survivors, my Uncle Isaac, his wife Bronia and, David’s widow, Rosa moved to Israel with my cousin, where she still lives with her family.
When they moved to Israel, we sent care packages to them. It was 1965 or 1966. I still remember when I was 11 learning about my cousin. We became pen pals, writing back and forth for many years. We still keep in contact, but now through What’s Ap and Facebook.
The year (1974-75) I studied at Hebrew University in Israel, I would spend time with my family, my uncle, aunts and cousin in Kiriat Haim, which is just north of Haifa. During one visit, Uncle Isaac surprised me with a bag to carry my school supplies when I traveled from Jerusalem to visit family. He also made me a pillow to decorate my room. I was a great bag for that as it was the perfect size with a zipper. And no one else had anything like. I actually used it to go to class. I still have both of these items.
After my return from Israel, my mother gave the jacket to me. It longer fit her and she thought I would wear it. Since I spent so much time with my family in Israel, the jacket carried so many emotions with it. When I was younger, I would wear the jacket and think of all my great uncles and aunts went through during the war. How they survived the war and got out of Europe. It is a jacket of survival and strength in my mind.
So I guess I will continue to keep this jacket. It has a few moth-eaten areas. The color has faded. But to me, its symbol of survival and new lives makes it so valuable. It tells me to never give up. To survive and be a survivor.
https://zicharonot.com/2016/10/01/the-rosh-hashannah-card-has-a-story/
https://zicharonot.com/2014/04/28/speaking-yiddish-always-brings-me-holocaust-memories/
zicharonot 
You have so many wonderful and very touching memories, and objects like the jacket make those memories so much more vivid for your readers (and, I assume, for you as well). It’s incredible to think of a jacket being sent from Australia to the US back then!
I know! I find it amazing. But my grandparents sent them care packages. So I think they wanted to say thank you.