New Year, New Day

Verein - association, club, nonprofit

Another year to reflect upon. This one seems harder than the last. Perhaps, I am not alone in these thoughts.

This morning, I took a walk past the farms near my house. The corn is taller than me now. And the stork babies are now behaving like the grown-ups, very hard to see the difference (for this newbie). Though when I do look closely, I think I can see the difference in size.

I walked today to try to remember the importance of the New Year and time to prepare for Yom Kippur. I thought about all the good people, moments and opportunities in my life. For that I am grateful.

I also take this time to think of all the loss in my life and in the world. This time of year, I feel the loss more than any other time of the year, as I often suppress those emotions.  But these days - I allow the emotions and welcome them.

This year, I cannot wrap my head around the enormous losses of life and time due to people. The pandemic seems to highlight the side of people I despise. The willful destruction of the Earth, the neglect of humans by other humans and my list goes on.

This is also a time I reflect from where and from whom I come from. I think of my parents, grandparents and the generations before. I think of the struggles they had in their lives. I remember the stories of my grandmother talking about her own escape as a refugee from Europe in early 1900s. Whenever, I think of the play Fiddler on the Roof - I imagine her story being told, though I doubt there ever was a fiddler on her roof.

The stories she told of her parents leaving in the middle of the night from the shtetl, struggling with the desire to stay and wait it out and the pain of realising they had no choice but to risk their lives (and those of their children) to make the long journey. The journey from the Ukraine to the US, with many stops, hunger and fears along the way. She talked about the desperate measures of her parents taking their children and other's children that matched the age of their own deceased babies.  The trip by foot through other countries, stifling the babies noises in fear of being found, sickness along the way. She told of one of the children being in the hospital in Austria - and her mother repaying the kindness of the nurses through her sewing and "tea leaf readings." Who exactly knows where the actual borders of the lands were and which countries they ended up traveling through, but it really doesn't matter.

She told of the last money her father had to bribe the doctor at the entrance to freedom- Ellis Island - to not send her sister home alone because she had, most likely, pink eye.

Two of my four grandparents were refugees. The other two were born shortly after their mothers arrived as refugees.

Both sides settled in New York City in the early 1900's, struggling refugees and seeking survival for their children.  Both growing with the challenges of their transition to a new society, language and culture.

During World War II a new wave of Jewish refugees were in need of help. The now established families did what they could to help those survive.

In going through my mother's papers, I came across a few items that originally were my grandmothers, including letters that were sent to a verein my grandparents were part of in the Bronx. The letters have since been donated to the National Holocaust Museum for their archives.  The letters were from survivors in refugee camps and they were begging for help.  The museum librarian in charge - was intrigued - because they did not know of this verein prior to the letters and was able to track the names in the letters as survivors.

Exact details are unknown. From what we deducted - the letters were sent to the verein and then they would try to find direct family to sponsor or reconnect - if not, then they tried, any means necessary to get them to the US - even if they were not related. All this is blurry and the exact truth will never be known.

What I do know - they did not sit on the sidelines and read the news and judge these people for trying to survive. They did not sit and watch. They did what they could to help innocent people survive.

They did what they could.

And so in this new year - I hope I can help others in their struggle. I hope those working to help the world and humans, stay strong. I hope that the lessons of the past are learned by more and they follow. I hope those that are doing anything possible to seek shelter find it in safety.

And may we all work toward to a more safe, kind and just world.