a heritage unfolds:
fAMILY SECRETS REVEALED
a work of non-fiction - in proGRess
Aunt Halina, Grandmother Aniela, my mother, Janina
My mother in Geneva, Switzerland 1953
Family portrait, Geneva, Switzerland before emigrating to America in 1953. Mom, me, Dad, and Sister Alexandra
Ancestral Home in Lodz, Poland
Artur Stahl, my grandfather
My mother's home and family jewelry store in Lwow, Poland now Lviv in the Ukraine.
On the day my mother died, a man left a message on her answering machine saying that a lawyer was looking for the heirs of property in Poland. That phone call rocked my world. Only a few months later my sister and I boarded a flight to Poland, where we would swear before the courts that we were two of the living heirs of Dawid Prussak, a wealthy industrialist from the city of Lodz, and a Jew. Our Catholic upbringing was a facade that hid my family’s Jewish heritage. A DNA test showed that I was 100% Jewish, not a drop of anything else. I was determined to learn more. It took over ten years, but past mysteries were solved, living cousins discovered, and prominent ancestors and their lives revealed.
My book is part historical quest and part double memoir, mine and my mother’s, which was discovered years after her death. Our stories take you on a journey that begins in Poland at the turn of the 19th century, follows my parents’ lives through WWII, including their arrest and imprisonment in concentration camps, liberation and the rebuilding of their lives in Geneva, Switzerland, where they amassed a fortune. It follows our family to America and the debacle and redemption that ensued.
My mother’s memoir, poignantly written, provided the key to unlocking many mysteries. Other revelations came through research as well as the hundreds of documents - in French, Polish and German - that my parents saved. Their story is one of resilience, determination, and, in spite of all they experienced, hope and optimism.
Uncovering the past has been transformative, changing my perception of self, my parents and my relationship to them.
Comments on book and chapter drafts:
“What a story. You have me on the edge of my seat with your telling...You show the Soviet occupation as an evolving phenomenon with your parents getting away from the Soviets at every turn. It is really interesting.” Dick H.
“I’m stunned. This is amazing and powerful and so beautifully organized and written. The twists and turns of fate with your parents’ lives during the war reads like an extraordinary thriller, except it was real….Your parents’ story, in and of itself, is astounding but who knew that your description of the actual process of tracking so much down and piecing it together could, in itself, be so exciting. You make it so. This is just wonderful on so many levels.” Tim O.
“My husband is so anxious to read your chapters that he keeps grabbing your submissions out of the printer before I can get to them.”
Betsy M.
Interview:
When I learned that I was Jewish, Tony Kahn, former co-host of the national public radio show, The World, took an interest in the story. In the interview that ensued we discussed the impact of learning I was Jewish and my mother’s determination to hide it.