While in Israel, my daughter and I went to visit my cousin and her family. Sara and I are just one month a part in age, but she is actually my mother’s first cousin. Sara was the child of my grandmother’s youngest brother. My two uncles and their wives, two sisters, escaped Poland by running to Russia. Probably not the best choice. But since they were tailors, they were able to survive. In any case, they did not have any children till the war was over and they were out of Europe.
Sara and I became pen pals when we were 11. Sara grew up in Australia, and then moved with her family to Israel in 1966. That is when we started writing to each other and we have been in touch ever since.
During this visit, when the young people were visiting, Sara pulled out some old photo albums. Most of the photos I had seen before. But some from Europe and Australia I had not seen. One in particular caught my attention because I noticed my grandmother as a girl. And I realized that this was the only photo I had ever seen of my grandmother in Europe before she came to the USA at age 16.
There are two other girls in the photo. The back of the photo says “Isaac’s three sisters.” And there were three sisters. My grandmother Tova/Taube/Thelma was the oldest. Esther was the middle child and Malcha was the baby. Esther was about six years younger than my grandmother, who was able to bring her to America along with my great grandfather in 1936. (See blog below.)
But the question is: are these really the three sisters? The notation was made by my great aunt, not my great uncle. Sara doesn’t know for sure. I got in touch with my mother’s other first cousin, who is 15 years older than us. I thought she might know.
She agrees that the girl on the right is my grandmother. That is not in doubt. My grandmother never changed! But although the girl on the left looks like my Tante Esther, she seems too close in age to my grandmother in this picture. Grandma was born in 1906, Tante Esther in 1912. These two girls seem to be the same age. The girl in the middle could be Malcha. But supposedly Esther is only three years older than Malcha. Oy Vey.
Then we thought, this is my grandmother on the right, so perhaps it is her best friend and first cousin, Tova Malcha on the left. They were the same age. We then think, sitting on the ground is grandma’s sister, my great aunt Malcha. Then Esther is not in the picture.
The caption could be wrong?
We do not know. And I doubt that we will ever know, because everyone who might know has passed away.
In the meantime, I am just excited about finding a photo of my grandmother when she was a girl in Poland. As my cousin said, no matter what, it is great treasure.
zicharonot 