Miedzyrec Pd1.
The unknown city to my family. In that city, my whole world fell apart. In August 1942, while I was at work in a nearby village 15,000 souls, among them my beloved parents, were taken to Treblinka. Four years later, that same city gave me its best it had to offer.
Shall we forever be searching for loved ones?
Thanks to the first book of the Holocaust survivors, after 46 years, an emotional renunion took place in Houston. I want to share this heartwarming story with my fellow survivors in hope that someone out there might recognise the names and places. (Our pictures, Eddie and myself, are on page 236 in the first book, and pages 200 and 201 in the second book. Mr. Shapiro is in the second book on page 253.)
One day in 1985, six months after I lost my beloved husband, I arrived at my office to find that my secretary had received an intriguing phone call.
"Mrs. B.," she said, "a Irving Shapiro called from the airport looking for Mr. B. I told him I'm sorry, Mr. B. isn't here." Mr. Shapiro said, "I found out from the Book of survivors that Mr. Bleiweiss is alive, and I was overjoyed. We come from the same town and I am sure that he would be just as excited to hear that I also survived!"
With much sadness, my secretary told him, "I'm so sorry to inform you that Mr. Bleiweiss isn't with us anymore. He died last May."
The caller left his name in hopes that I would get in touch with him. I was still in deep mourning, unable to accept the loss of my beloved. Why should I want to call a complete stranger?
"I dont come from Miedzyrzec." (In Yiddish, "Mezrich") I come from the south of Poland, from Tarnobrzeg. Because I carry the Bleiweiss name with great pride, for the love of my beloved, I called Gering, Nebraska.
At first we were very formal addressing each other as "Mr. and Mrs." Because Mr. Shapiro is the only Jew among the 7000 citizens in Gering, Nebraska, there was no one there to share his tormented memories. In larger cities, Holocaust survivors could get emotional support from their fellow survivors. My husband's friend was lost in a deep forest not remembering people or places from his home town. I was a stranger to his former home town in Poland, but through my husband, I knew names of people who had lived there. The more we talked, the more he wanted to know, and he said, "Please, please go on. Yes, yes, I do remember some of those names."
Then I said, "Mr. Shapiro, in March of 1942, my family and I were brought by transport to Miedzyrzec. We lived with two other families in one room in a two story building on Staromiejska. I was told that the big building across the street from us used to be a kino (movie theater.)"
"No, no, no," protested Mr. Shapiro, "there was no movie house." "Mr. Shapiro, I'm sorry to contradict you, but you are wrong. I'm surprised that you don't remember the house, because all the local boys used to flock to our upstairs room. In this one room were ten beautiful girls, one family had seven girls, his, hers, and theirs. None of the boys payed much attention to me, I was too young."
The he asked, "Mrs. Bleiweiss, from what city was your transport?"
I said, "Mielec." Hearing Mielec, in a very exciting tone he said,
"yes, yes, now I do remember the house you lived in, I used to come
up there, because I was in love with this beautiful girl from
Mielec. Yes, yes, I do remember her name - Fela Heldgot." Now
I am excited and ask, "Mr. Shapiro, what was your Yiddish name?"
He said, "Srulek." When I heard "Srulek" chills went down my spine,
uncontrollable tears gushing down my cheeks, I said "I can't
believe it. Srulek, Srulek, I know you, you were short, with dark
hair. In fact, I had a crush on you." "Sophie, I am still short,
now my hair is gray." Our tears wouldn't stop — in a sobbing voice
he said, "Dearest Sophie, I want you to know that from the day I lost my loved ones, never once did I hear anyone call me Srulek."
