Holocaust Day - Remembering, Reliving
The year was 1916, Slovakia. Soon after her fathers death, Mary took a job working in an iron shop as a saleswoman, owned by a local Jewish family, the Singer family. They knew she was supporting herself and her 6 brothers and sisters. They were millionaires when their business was strong. Mary asked Mr & Mrs. Singer why they continued to work. Mr. Singer replied “I work so that my children can have a better and more secure life”.
She worked for them 7 days a week from 7 am until 6 pm. They gave her breakfast every morning but she went home for lunch and dinner every day. The shop was open on Sundays from 10 am until noon and the Singers gave Mary that day off so she could attend church and pray. Her monthly salary was 400-450 crowns. It was the best shop in town and she was making very good money. The shop was large, manufacturing all sorts of goods made of iron. She would often deliver goods such as bricks, shingles and scrapes to customers. Often times her customers would ask her to unload more then they paid for and she just would not do it. She couldn’t betray the trust she had with the singer family that had taken such good care of her. She often times would secure bids for building materials, of course with the 10% overhead added. Her customers that did not pay more usually paid the price that was asked of them. Poorer customers usually paid less and negotiations were skipped as she and the Singers knew how much they could afford.
Mary would often spend her evenings in the Singers garden behind the shop after closing. They had the most beautiful roses that would bloom in spring and summer and they had allowed her to pick them, to take to her mothers grave once or twice a week.
She was very distraught at the death of her parents. They left her and her 6 brothers and sisters orphaned. Her father was killed in the war (WWI) and her mother they say died of a broken heart soon after receiving the news. She often grieved more that her fathers grave was empty. His remains left in Serbia somewhere and are still to this day.
The Singer family knew of her pain and made her life as comfortable as they could. When Mary fell ill with a lung infection, they wrapped her in cold sheets to break her fever and painstakingly took care of her for 5 weeks as she lay with a high fever unable to attend to herself.
February 18th, 1921.
When she was well she contacted family in Spisska Nova Ves who took her in and nursed her back to health. Soon after, a cousin in American contacted her and her brothers and sisters and asked them if they wanted to “Come to America”. She did. Along with 4 other siblings.
Mary (standing) With The Singer Family circa 1916
Mr and Mrs Singer and their son, Vilam, who later took over the shop after his parents death, were very fair and treated Mary with all the respect they could give. She felt very sorry for the Jews in Slovakia. They were heavily persecuted and ostracized during WWII. His brother was exterminated in a concentration camp and his parents were both shot. I want to say, outside of their business. The entire family died that Mary had known. Viliam, a son, survived and passed away in 1970, As Mary stated in a diary, after hearing from his wife shortly after. Another brother of Viliam also survived and married a Catholic girl probably out of fear of persecution.
After the Nazis, the Russians stepped in and took over the entire property, where Viliam worked as a manual laborer until he was 74.
I wrote this story today in honor of Holocaust Day using the very words of Mary through her letters. The information is all true. The names have not been changed. The information has just surfaced in my family in regards to my great Aunt Mary who also passed away in the early 70s. Im am not Jewish. I am just one person with family that lived through one of the most horrendous periods in our world history. I’m just one person who will continue to pass down this story and more to the next generation that follows mine. The Holocaust will always be remembered. It was one of the most evil periods in history that could never be forgotten.
Lftbhndagn
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Great story…lest we forget.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:31 pmA Remembrance of my own:
The Seamstress
A tiny little woman made of steel
Who could quiet a group of 12 year old girls with a look
Who made all her own clothes
She taught …well, tried to teach us how to sew
We cut, we matched, we threaded, we giggled
We enjoyed the sunshine in her sewing room
Sometimes we talked, sometimes we worked
Teacher had an accent, it was hard for me to understand her
I was 12 years old, didn’t know any other language except ‘Montanan’
And in Montana, you can end your sentences with prepositions if you want
I was sewing something…well, probably ripping something out
And I asked her, “Where are you from?”
“I am from Holland.”
“How did you come to America?”
“I came after the war.”
“You were in the war?”
I was 12 years old, ‘the war’ was a movie
She asked me if I knew who Anne Frank was
I said yes, I’d — seen the movie
Teacher hid Jews in her home during the war
And the Nazis came and searched the house from time to time
And the tiny little woman made of steel prayed to God
And tried not to reveal her abject terror
And they never got caught
Decades have passed, I still can’t sew
Can’t remember a thing
Except for what she did in the war
She’s in her 90’s now I think
She’s still alive
A tiny little woman made of steel
Who makes all her own clothes
For Mrs. Nilsson with love
May 1st, 2008 at 3:47 pmHolocaust Remembrance Day, 2008
There should be a national day recognizing the Holocaust. It should ALWAYS be made a big deal.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Lftbhndagn,
kozanne,
May 1st, 2008 at 4:45 pmWhat a great story. thanx and God bless you, Aunt Mary and the Singer Family.
You should try to find Mrs. Nilsson. That would be way cool.
Seventy years ago, there existed a Jewish civilization in Europe which in many ways exceeded the modern state of Israel. It had its own language, newspapers, and a rich literary tradition; its own music and artistic culture; its own educational system, and courts; and many of its members were recognized as among the brightest lights of Europe. All this civilization lacked was a few thousand tanks, and jets, and perhaps a nuclear bomb or two; and because of that, it was utterly destroyed.
Have we not allowed the wisdom accrued from that unimaginably harsh lesson to go completely to waste, in just one lifetime?
May 1st, 2008 at 6:47 pm