I was curious if I could find any information on my mother’s or father’s family. I put in the names and felt like I hit the jack pot. I was able to find out the dates her family perished. This is when my mother put up 4 beautiful plaques at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, Mi. Finally my mother has a place she can go to say Kaddish, and the family will never be forgotten!
Then I found a website called Jewishgen.org. This site had a wealth of information about people from Poland, and other locations. I found the exact spot where Liba and Moszek Tajch were buried. I contacted the staff at the New Łódź Jewish Cemetery and asked if there were any markers or tombstones on those spots. Staff emailed me the exact spots they were buried however there were no markers or tombstones, but empty land where they were buried. In their books the exact spot where they were buried was documented. I asked my mother if she would want to go back to Poland and she said “never”. I said “what if I told you I know the exact spot where your mom and brother were buried?” and she said “you have to be certain”. I told her I was. I asked if she would like a tombstone erected in memory of the Tajch family and she said “yes”. We had the stone made in Poland and it was put in the Ghetto Field of the cemetery. Our next goal was to book a trip to Poland.
Sophie, my brother Mark, his wife Anne, my husband Jeff and I decided we were going with my mom to Poland. On July 7, 2016, at the age of 86 my mom and all of us got to say Kaddish, at the New Łódź cemetery, in memory of her beautiful family that perished in the Holocaust. It was the most emotional and moving experience. After that we went to Radegast Museum
https://muzeumtradycji.pl/oddzial-stacja-radegast
to see the spot where she was transported to Auschwitz.
We also went to Piotrków and found her synagogue. It is now a library. When we arrived there something magical happened. We met a Rabbi and a group of young Jewish Professionals from New York on the J. Roots Mission. They asked my mother to speak to their group about her life story. We were amazed at her courage to do this. She is a brave survivor. The next day the group went to the Tajch grave at the New Lodz Jewish cemetery, said prayers and placed stones on the tombstone. It meant the world to my mom.
The New Lodz Cemetery in Lodz, Poland
Then our family visited my father’s home town on Sosnowiec. Next, we went to the resort town of Zakopane. As a young girl my mother dreamt of going there, so, I wanted to make her dream finally come true. We also visited Auschwitz-Birkenau and then Krakow.
A blog was also written about our journey in Poland: https://ellispo-land2016.blogspot.com
Presently Sophie speaks at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, MI. She is still active, youthful and in good health. Sophie feels it was a miracle that she survived with her sister; while millions did not. When she speaks, she emphasizes how important it is not to be prejudice. She said millions died just because of antisemitism and hatred, just because they were not Aryan. If she can impart anything it would be to tolerate other religions. Learn to accept others. She is grateful to be alive. Don’t give up hope!
Carl Lutz. Buda, 1945. FORTEPAN / Archiv für Zeitgeschichte ETH Zürich / Agnes Hirschi CC BY-SA 3.0