This past August I visited my newly discovered cousins in France. Liliane Strausberg invited me for holiday with her and her daughter Catherine, in a small port town near Nantes (Pornic) France. It was a vacation and also a genealogical mission.
I brought the FamilyTree DNA kit for Catherine to take... to help her track down her dad's half-sibling. Back in March 2015 I had relayed the story my mom told me about Catherine's paternal grandma, Jeanette Karetchsky Sztrausberg. Jeanette came to France from England when she was unwed and pregnant. My dad's parents helped Jeanette put the baby up for adoption in Paris & kept it a secret. I am hoping that the DNA results from Catherine's sample could connect us to this lost child's family, who may not be aware of their Jewish heritage.
Lilianne's Story:
I videotaped Lilianne sharing testimony from her childhood during the Holocaust. Her father had been taken by the French police and never returned, leaving Lilianne as a toddler, alone with her mother in Paris. One day the French police came for them. "Madame you must come with us". Lilianne's mom Sonia Linderman Konkowksi told them "I need more time, I will give you all my money". They took the money and warned that they would return. Sonia took little Liliane to hide in the cellar for the whole day. At night Sonia ventured back to the apartment to get some food. She overheard voices in her apartment, speaking Flemish. Her Uncle Menachem Konkowski, her mothers brother, had sent them to smuggle Liliane and her mom out of France, to safety in Belgium. Liliane survived the Shoah in Belgium in hiding with her three cousins: Henriette 7, Rene 5, Claudine 3.
Lilianne knew my parents and my Aunt Claire. She retold the terrifying ordeal my Aunt shared of getting stuck under a train during her clandestine escape across the border at the Vierzon train station in 1942. The train began to roll as my Aunt was left frozen in place lying between the rails and train wheels.
Lilianne also shared her concern that her granddaughter Justine was disconnected from her Jewish heritage. Justine did not consider herself Jewish and was trying to hide it. I felt that if she knew her family's story, she would not be ashamed. Her grandmother's uncle, Menachem Konkowski was the hero of her family and also a nationally recognized hero of Belgium. His brigade committed many acts of sabotage against the Nazis in Belgium. He also saved many Jewish family members and children, including Liliane, with his factory as a front. I showed Justine a Facebook post of the
commendation letter from President Eisenhower to Konkowski. I also showed her the family tree. The Shoah and what happened to her family should not be a source of shame.
Lilianne and I also went to meet Simonne Nathalie Sebrenick. I had connected with Nathalie late 2014. It was quite amazing that I discovered Nathalie through Remy, her nephew. He followed me on Twitter. I don't know how he found me or why he followed me. I believe it to be beshert, fate. I had been searching for family on my dad's side and they found me online; first Yael on JewishGen and then Remy. Remy was not even looking for me.
Nathalie lives in a medieval chateau in Huile, France, about 2 hours from Catherine, near Angers. For someone going through chemotherapy she looked amazing, young. She loves classical music, her 3 dogs and her 3 horses. Her dogs are named after classical music/ musicians: Amadeus the beagle, Fantasia the Labrador, Barcarole the Schnauzer. Since her husband Claude Chuteau died she lives in this big chateaux alone with her dogs.
Nathalie's Story:
She shared some old photos and heart-wrenching stories. The violin story stands out: Nathalie wanted to play the piano since she was 4 years old. But her parents were against it, wanting her to focus on your schooling. One day she told a teacher that she could not have a piano. The teacher suggested a smaller instrument. When Nathalie found a broken violin in her basement she showed her father to ask to play. He was enraged. It turned out the violin belonged to her young cousins Fanny & Lucienne Lerner, the sisters were music child prodigies. They were deported from Paris and sent to the gas chambers; The loss of those precious children and their musical gifts never shared with the world. The murder of these children were now more real and tragic. I discovered their picture on the Serge Klarsfeld site.
