HARRY’S STORY - PART IV OF IV

CONCLUSION - Harry’s Story - Part IV of IV

Back to Harry’s story, “Saturday, June the 8th, my family arrived by train in Los Angeles, California, to take up permanent residency. Soon after Anna’s arrival we both joined forces and began building a better future for all of us.”

Harry constantly inspired and encouraged me to continue researching and writing about my family history. Together, we poked and prodded and came up with more and more details of our children’s shared ancestry.

Over the years, my husband and I with children in tow took many trips to Los Angeles, always making stops to visit Anna and Harry. One time, Harry said forthright, you come to Los Angeles too much…travel elsewhere. With that, he implored us to go to Israel. Sadly, we have not had the opportunity yet but hope to someday soon make that trip. Happily, all of our children and two of my three brothers have visited the Holy Land.

One story we often recall with laughter is when we left a fun-filled day at Knots Berry Farm in California and headed for a quick stop at Anna and Harry’s house. Moss, our youngest of three, was probably under two at the time and he was very tired from the day at the amusement park. When Harry came out to greet us with his broad smile and cheerful face, Moss, strapped into his car seat, cried sleepily, “No Harry.” With our deep love for Harry, we could not help but laugh at the greeting this avuncular lover of children received from baby Moss.

While many of these stories of survival our cousins faced were already written and recorded on video by me before Anna and Harry gave their testimonies to the Spielberg Project, they needed to be told again. I feel obligated to make sure they remain in the family throughout the generations and hopefully in the annals of history.

Note to self: Harry’s story of coming to America is in the Temnogorod file cabinet drawer behind the folder for his mother-in-law, my Grandaunt, Fruma. Over fifty well-informed letters Harry sent to Aunt Fannie when he and Anna were living in Israel sit stacked in the bottom of our bedroom closet. In our living room, his books are nearby where I am typing on the computer. With this documentation, just as in the neatly compiled stacks of memorabilia, which Harry showed me at his Los Angeles home, I am sure to keep tabs on the many stories we shared.

Dear Harry, rest in eternal peace. Your stories are not lost. They are expanded upon for future generations in our family and hopefully, anyone reading this blog post will forward it to the members of their own contact lists. How fortunate I feel to be able to circulate the story of one survivor of Strzyzow, Poland, and his wife, my Cousin Anna, from Chudnov, Ukraine.

One final note, Harry’s story would not be complete without Anna’s. I will always treasure the memory of their visits at my parent’s home, my uncle’s and aunt’s homes in New Jersey and ours at Anna and Harry’s home in California.

Walking up the stairs to their flat in the two-family house they owned, we stopped each time to take notice of the souvenir plates they collected from everywhere they traveled. Harry not only hung them with precision, but he took them down to wash and keep them “just so,” as he was apt to do with everything.

The extended stays by our dear cousins at our house in South Orange take center stage. For over 50 years, Anna reciprocated with many a delicious lavish meal.

On multiple visits, my husband Arnee appreciated the added preparation of Anna’s sweet kugel for his enjoyment (and mine :-)). I’m so glad I saved her recipe when she showed me the trick of adding just the right amount of vanilla pudding as Anna and I baked up a casserole together at our house on more than one of their extended stays. I shared Cousin Anna’s Sweet Kugel recipe in a survivor’s cookbook at our synagogue and added her story and the recipe below.