New York

My sister, Luisa and her boyfriend Scott are helping me out again. They're in New York at the moment filming an interview with Norman Cohen and his wife Ethel. Norman is the son of Aunty Betty's sister, Esther. Norman has a treasure of stories to tell about his parents and their generation.


Norman Cohen (photo Laurie Polli)

During the Second World War, Norman served in the American armed forces and fought in the Normandy landings.

Norman Cohen, photo taken after the liberation of in Paris, 1944

This is the second interview made for the documentary. In 2010 I interviewed Bernice Polli and her husband Laurie in Glasgow.

Bernice is the granddaughter of Annie Taylor, standing in the middle in the banner photo above. Ray Taylor, sitting second from the right in the banner photo, was Annie Taylor's daughter and Bernice's mother.





So curious to see how the footage turns out. A big thanks to all the family in New York who are making this happen!

Ponar Desecrated

Last July I visited the killing grounds of Ponar (see Vilna Ghetto and Ponar) to pay respects to my family members who had been murdered there by Nazis and their Lithuanian Nationalist collaborators. It was therefore with dumbfoundment, distress and anger that I read a report that this summer the site had been desecrated by anti-Semites.

In Russian: "Hitler was right"

Desecrated memorial for Jewish victims

This report was published on the site, DefendingHistory.com, edited by Dovid Katz, former Professor of Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture at the University of Vilnius and now independent researcher. Originally aimed at the Baltic region, this site attempts to combat holocaust denial, often in it's most subtle forms at all levels including government level in Eastern European countries.

Click here to see the full report

Yiddish

Last week I started the second year of a beginner's Yiddish language course. It's a small class of enthusiasts who are all connected in at least one thing: a love for the Yiddish language, a language full of character, a language which unmistakably exudes the Jewish, Ashkenazy culture. Unbeknown to my fellow talmidim (students) it was an emotional moment for me when last year I wrote down my first Yiddish words. It was the feeling of suddenly being connected to the past, writing in the language and script of Aunty Betty and my Lithuanian Jewish ancestors. However, besides the emotional connotations there are also practical reasons for me studying what is arguably, the Chassidim aside, a dying language. Aunty Betty and her sweetheart, Joe Frank, corresponded with each other in their mother tongue, Yiddish. My Yiddish teacher has been very helpful in translating theirs and other postcards which have recently come to light amongst the possessions of recently deceased family members.

Joe Frank, South West Africa, 1930's (collection Diana Epstein)

Back of postcard shown above (apologies for the poor quality) 

Kalahari Desert S.W. Africa.
Transcription in Yiddish:
Tsum ondenkung far mayn no’enter un tayerer frayndine fun der vayter Afrika fun dayn gutn fraynd Dzshoh

English translation:
A memento for my close and dear friend from far-off Africa. From your good friend Joe.
(My sincere thanks go to Ruben Verhasselt for this translation)



By learning the language myself, though, I want to be able to decipher these kinds of documents myself. This will be useful for my further research, particularly in Vilnius, where for example many exhibits in the holocaust museum, The Green House, have only explanatory captions in Yiddish and Russian and sometimes in Hebrew.

So I'm looking forward to a new scholastic year and learning this wonderful language.

Luisa in Namibia

Finally a second post to this weblog of hopefully many to come.

My sister, Luisa, who lives in South Africa, was recently on holiday in Namibia and I asked her and her boyfriend, Scott, if they could take a detour to visit Swakopmund where Aunty Betty allegedly met Joe Frank. This is an account of their visit.

Luisa writes:
"With just under two million people it is also one of the least densely populated countries in the world. Most of Namibia is dusty desert. Strong winds have carved out dunes as high as 300m across the Namib Desert.

Red dunes of the Namib desert (photo Scott Driskill)

Namibia is one of those dreamlike places with rugged mountains, never-ending plains, remote deserts, wild seascapes, unique wildlife and a diversity of cultures.

Time and space seem less defined here (photo Scott Driskill)

Highly adapted Namib fauna (photos Scott Driskill)

Aunty Betty arrived in Namibia in January 1937. Betty presumably met up in Swakopmund with Joe Frank, who lived and worked there in the late 20’s and 30’s.

Joe Frank at beach front in Swakopmund, November 1930

Swakopmund today: the lighthouse and museum

Swakopmund (German for "Mouth of the Swakop") is a beach resort and one of the major ports in the region.
Often described as being more German than Germany, Swakopmund is an example of German colonial architecture.

A very well kept, quiet and civilized city, it's a sort of German Largs surrounded by sand dunes! For the non-Scottish readership Largs is an affluent seaside town on the west coast of Scotland.

Outside Swakopmund lies the formidable desert coastline - the Skeleton
Coast. Named for the skeletal shipwrecks and whale bones which litter
endless stretches of foggy beaches."

This was a brief visit to the places of interest related to this project during Luisa's holiday. I hope to send her back to Namibia for a dedicated trip to do more project-related research and interviews.