Among the complex emotions following the recent death of my brother Bernie, the realization that I am the surviving member of my immediate family should not have been surprising. However this coincidence of “kismet” and birth order weighs as an opportunity, and a responsibility. Our father, Baruch migrated to Leipzig from Poland as a teenager, and upon marrying Amalie Forschirm (1926) entered a large religious clan (7 siblings), most raising young families during the 1930’s. As ominous signs arose in Germany, many of my maternal aunts, uncles and cousins emigrated to Palestine. Aging parents, responsibility for a family business, and the inability to believe the incomprehensible, kept my family (now including Ralph and Bernd) in Germany until Krystallnacht (November 9-10, 1938) the brutal attacks on synagogues, Jewish businesses and institutions. Our father could no longer return home, as Jewish men were actively hunted in the streets, endangering their families. When I approached Bernie in 2015 about giving a talk on our family’s relationship to this history (at CBST’s annual Shabbat service to commemorate Krystallnacht) I was surprised to realize we had not before specifically discussed it. His response was quick and clear: “Krystallnacht saved our lives”. It was the message that could no longer be ignored, and with the help of relatives in the US, they set sail on the Orinoco, landing in Key West Dec. 1938. Following 2 years in Cuba, my parents and two brothers migrated to the Bronx in 1940. I was born 5 years later. I am always struck when the anniversary of Krystallnacht coincides with Parshat Lech Lecha (Genesis 12), the message to our ancestors to go out from the familiar “to a land that God would show them”. The US provided not only safety and the needs for a good life, but the ability for each of us to develop in directions we could not have imagined. While Israel proved a similar haven for my mother’s family, my paternal family in Poland/Russia were almost all lost. I am grateful for the courage and skills of my parents and siblings, and to each of them for their capacity to welcome with love a newcomer who did not share their perilous journey. This summary, and a few images from the time, are meant to honor each of their memories. I am grateful as well to CBST, for providing a mechanism to tell the story, in addition to decades helping to guide the next steps on my own pathway.

Photos: Left: An American wedding (Toby and Bernd), Ralph’s Bronx Bar Mitzvah; Center: The immigrant family in NYC; Thanksgiving (Bernie, Regina and Baruch); Right: Baruch, Amalie, a friend on the ship; The boys in Cuba. 

Regina Linder (November 2024)