On 19th of April as I was looking for somebody who send me the report from the just opened Jewish Museum in Warsaw incidentally my friend Viola living in Sweden sent me a mail she got from Jewish Gen. It was announcing Eli Rabinowitz from Perth, Australia planned to visit Warsaw on 10th of Mai and to report about it in his blog. I wrote Mr Rabinowitz immediately and asked for permission to reblog his report here. Waiting for that day I searched his blogs and sites to find a lot of truly amazing stories.
I asked Eli for a permission to reblog one of his stories titled Moshe & Paula http://elirab.com/
The Amazing Story of Uncle Moshe and Paula Lichtzier
The Tale of Two Orla Families Reunited by Two Photos
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| 1920 Photo of Orla Yiddisher Folk School with Moshe Rabinowitz, teacher, bottom left, sent to Wojciech Kononczuk by Eli Rabinowitz Australia in June 2011 | 1920 Photo of Orla Yiddisher Folk School with Moshe Rabinowitz, teacher, bottom left, sent to Wojciech Kononczuk by Eli Rabinowitz Australia in June 2011 |
The Story of these two photos taken in Orla in the early 1920s:
Eli’s great uncle Moshe Rabinowitz (after whom he is named) is born in Orla and in 1922 moves to South Africa.Paula Lichtzier and her family live in Orla.
Moshe proposes to Paula and arranges to bring her out to Cape Town, South Africa.
Moshe is killed in a motor accident six weeks before they are to be married.
Paula later marries Joseph Pinn, but Paula (Polly) remains close to the Rabinowitz family, until she passes away in 1976.In May 2011 Eli visits Orla, Poland.
Ten days later in Israel Eli is given the 1920 photo on the left by his aunt Sarah Stepansky, Moshe’s niece.
Eli emails the photo to Wojciech Kononczuk, who is researching the Jews of Orla for his book.
In July 2011 Wojciech emails Eli a similar photo which has been sent to him by another researcher interested in Orla. She puts Eli in touch with Ray Hengy, Paula’s daughter, who lives in Freiburg, Germany.
Eighty years after Moshe is tragically killed and 35 years after Paula passes away, the two families are reunited through the amazing and fortuitous exchange of photos taken so many years ago in a shtetl called Orla!
Extract from memoirs written by Sylvia Kaspin, niece of Paula Lichtzier.
Sent to Eli in September 2011 by Ray Hengy, Paula’s daughter via Wojciech Kononczuk
Photo of Paula Lichtzier, her fiancee Moshe Rabinowitz and his sister Chana Rabinowitz; sent to Eli in July 2011 & The engagement ring that Moshe gave Paula
Extract from memoirs of Sarah Stepansky, niece of Moshe Rabinowitz and aunt of Eli Rabinowitz. Just completed Nov 2011
Ewa Maria and Friends 