She was always kind and loving to us kids.

She was a backbone to her mother Feige and her younger sisters, Gusta and Lily my mother.

Aunt Bertha.

That was what I knew about her.

It was only years after her passing, as the family stories came to light, that I have learned the story of Aunt Bertha.

Aunt Bertha had lived with her family in the small Northern Romanian town of Storozhynets.

They had been brutally deported by the Romanian military, and were forced to walk 200 miles to ghettos in Transnistria.

Over the course of months and years, Aunt Bertha was there with her family throughout the Romanian Holocaust, as her family was being gradually destroyed.

Her husband Aharon, a soldier in the Soviet army, fighting the Nazi Germans. Killed in the battle of Stalingrad.

Her son, 6 years old Izik.

Her father Berl.

Her sister Sarah.

Her sister, 16 years old Reisel.

Her brother Motl, a soldier in the Soviet army, fighting the Nazi Germans. Killed in battle on the Eastern Front.

Her brother Shloime, a soldier in the Soviet army, fighting the Nazi Germans. Killed in battle on the Eastern Front.

Her father in law Shulem.

Her mother in law Ethel.

Her sister in law Zlateh.

Her niece, 6 years old Etty.

Her sister in law Gitaleh.

Her uncle Mendel.

Her aunt Frida.

Her uncle Shloime.

Her aunt Perl.

Her niece, 14 years old Bella.

Her nephew, 13 years old Moyshaleh.

Her niece, 11 years old Reyzaleh.

 

Aunt Bertha had survived.

She lived to witness new generations of our family come to life.

A family alive.

Again.