Dear Stephen,
My family and I did not know your mother but thank you for sharing this beautiful eulogy.
My condolences,
Lisa
Lisa Andermann, MPhil, MD, FRCPC
Psychiatrist,
Mount Sinai Hospital;
Associate Professor,
Equity, Gender and Populations Division,
Department of Psychiatry,
University of Toronto
Tel: 416-586-4800 x 4514
Fax: 416-586-8654
________________________________________
From: bounce-124043800-76477717_at_list.cornell.edu <bounce-124043800-76477717_at_list.cornell.edu> on behalf of Stephen Winters <drstevewin_at_gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2019 11:29:35 PM
To: Czernowitz Mailing-Liste
Subject: [Cz-L] Blanka End Eulogy
I hope sending the Eulogy (10/13/2019), below, on my mom to all members is not inappropriate . I want everyone to know that to her last days what she wanted most was to return to the Czernowitz she lost. Tragedy upon tragedy was her knowledge that her father’s permit for the family to remain in Czernowitz in 1941 had been stolen. She even found the person who stole it and came close to confronting him later on in Israel but then decided not to. I also wonder if there is anyone alive on this list who may have known the End family. I thank everyone again for your sincere condolences.
"Good morning friends and relatives.
Stewart, Marilyn, and I thank you for coming here today to help celebrate and mourn the life of Blanka, also known as Blanche, End, her maiden name, Winters.
I wish to make some remarks on behalf of my father, Sigi, my sister, Marilyn and myself. Please excuse me if I become tearful at times.
Blanka was born in Czernowitz, Bukovina and grew up in a very warm, established, loving family. She suffered her first tragedy when at age 11, her mother died of breast cancer. Her father, a very dignified, well-educated Linotypist for one of the major newspapers, remarried and Blanka with her brother Leopold (Poldi) were surrounded with love and affection for each other together with cousins, aunts, and grandparents. Then the world collapsed, on October 11, 1941, almost 78 years to the date she passed away, when they were herded into a ghetto, only to be deported to Bershad, Transnistria. She was one of 10 people in a tiny room. A man, Blanc, predicted she would be the only one to survive and so it came to be. She watched as her father, step mother and finally Poldi died in front of her eyes. She recalled to us how as her brother was dying with gangrene and dysentery, Dr. Menschenfreund gave her a report that he would soon die. His response was not to listen to him because he, Poldi, would always be here to watch over her and protect her. Today, we not only mourn for the passing of Blanka End Winters, but also for Leopold, Miriam, Sally, and Lazar End, her brother and parents. My mother told me a long time ago that she was not afraid of dying because she died before she ever lived.
Blanka was liberated in 1943 and returned to her home to find no relatives, but a close friend took her in. She learned the Cyrillic alphabet over night to get a job in the post office and avoid Russian deportation to Siberia. As the Russians were clamping down on Czernowitz, and more and more civilians were being deported to Siberia her friend’s family helped her escape to Bucharest. There she met Sigi. They decided to marry, start life over anew after the horrors of the holocaust and have a family. As communism was encroaching they fled Bucharest for Prague and then unto Paris in anticipated transit to Paraguay and on to Buenos Aires. After spending more than 3 often happy years in Paris, where Marilyn was born, my father miraculously discovered a cousin willing to sponsor them and came to the United States, first to NY then to Houston and back to New York until frail health forced them to move close to me over 1 1/2 years ago.
Blanka was bright and very humble, she loved to read, loved fine and dainty things. She always made sure Shabbos candles were lit and a Shabbos table was set. She loved celebrating the Jewish holidays and going to shul. She enjoyed taking the bus to Manhattan, walking along Madison Avenue. She knitted beautiful needlepoints, sweaters, scarves, gloves, skirts, and even suits by hand. She loved wearing silk scarves. She had a good eye for colors. Through her final days she had beautiful skin with hardly a wrinkle. She was a good judge of character. She loved to sing. She loved tulips and roses. She loved the morning chirping of birds. Blanka was innately very bright, perceptive, discrete, and sensitive. Blanka spoke perfect French, German, Romanian and English along with Yiddish.
Blanka loved Sigi to the highest degree that any woman could love a husband. She cherished and looked up to him. She was at his side when they were nearly penniless upon arrival to the US with Marilyn born and me on the way. She supported him when times were uncertain or tough. She was his lover, friend, companion, confident, and secretary. She was devoted to him and admired his knowledge, strength, integrity and wit. They loved the theatre, movies, travel and culture. Depending on their mood they would converse in English, French, German or Rumanian. Sigi was rightly her guiding star, her knight in armor, and her hero.
As children mom frequently took Marilyn and I ice skating, to museums, to parades in Manhattan, to museums, to movies, bowling, to parks, the circus, the zoo, and to the beach. She even took me to Yankee stadium to watch the Yankees play, a three block walk from our home at the time. And of course, she made sure Marilyn had dance lessons. She showed us unconditional love, never scolding us if we brought home bad grades. She was a great cook. She cooked the best goulash, wiener schnitzel, sautéed chicken, veal roast, honey cakes, vaniliian kipfel, and most of all her famous shmeten torte. Marilyn and I also enjoyed being the only school kids to savor sardine and cream cheese or tuna fish with radish sandwiches for lunch.
In my mom’s eyes Marilyn could do no wrong. She was her precious little and big girl. They enjoyed traveling to resorts from Florida, to St Moritz and Badgestein together. She was overjoyed when she met Eric and very much at peace to know how good they were to each other. She loved watching Eric play Belot, a French card game with my father when they would visit. Marilyn and our mother had an exceptionally close, open mother daughter relationship often talking for hours on the phone with my sister in Paris. Our mother was Marilyn’s best friend and vice versa.
Mom was overjoyed when she met Shelly and we became serious. She hastened getting a diamond ring set for her on 47th street when I told her my plans to get engaged. She always stressed that family was most important and that I should try to be good to my family, foremost. She loved Shelly in a very special way and along with Marilyn, my father and I were very appreciative for at the countless things that Shelly did for her.
She was elated to have three caring, kind hearted grandchildren Lenny, Tamar and Elana who she adored, shared life stories with, and taught the highest values to. She was proud of their accomplishments and fond of their spouses Amanda, Avi and Jonny. With the recent arrival of Frances Rose, their great grand-daughter, she was overjoyed. Every night I would show her new pictures of Frances and no matter how down or ill she felt she would smile, study the photos and comment with statements such as on how bright she looks, how inquisitive she is, how curious sad he is, and how happy she looks. She spoke to her photos and sand to them too.
As a family, we took trips together to Florida, Washington DC, Paris and many summer vacations to Montauk Point. With Marilyn and Eric they toured throughout France, the Alps, Belgium, and England on several occasions. We often went to restaurants and cafes in Manhattan and along the Hudson river together. Birthday celebrations were mandatory. She loved lighting candles, celebrating the Jewish holidays and festivals, and even making gefilte fish and stuffed cabbage.
As I noted earlier, Blanka and Sigi’s health conditions forced them had to move close to me over a year and a half ago. Although she was unhappy to have left her home in New York, thanks to Shelly she was always taken care of. Shelly found and helped manage caregivers, including Marcia, Hazel, Marva, Mary, Anisha, but most of all Nina. Nina attended to her day and night with true caring and respect, sometimes frustrated but always treating her like family. My family thank you enormously. Shelly cooked fish, meat and vegetable at least three times a week for her, took her to doctors’ appointments, shopped for her, took her for manicures and haircuts, conversed with her, and watched over her. Shelly tried hard to boost her spirits and was always there to help manage every crisis. Without Shelly, Blanka’s care would have not been possible. My mom loved Shelly more than Shelly will ever imagine. Each night when I would go to their apartment mother’s first question was often where’s Shelly.
She had a very tough life and never overcome the traumas of her youth, especially her holocaust experiences. She rarely spoke of horrors which she suffered and did not want to gain notoriety in speaking about them. She spoke to me of tid-bits that were worse than any one can imagine. She bore the torment internally. She believed that G-d was good and told us to look for the good in people, while not expecting too much from any one.
While apologizing to some people who we may neglect to mention, we are especially grateful to Mr Ed Mosberg for insisting, demanding and making it possible to move our parents close to me. We are appreciative to many of her doctors, including Steven Itzkowitz, Jason Prager, Charles Farber, Peter Roytman, as well as the many nurses on Gagnon A and Simon 3 at Morristowen Medical Center who cared in a tender way for our mom. We are thankful to the Goldmans, the Levines, and the Kargers for their generous advice and help. We are especially grateful to Rabbi Menashe East for consoling us, educating us, and helping us through this very difficult time.
Mom, you were the best, loving, caring, kind, warm compassionate, insightful, wise and bright mother Marilyn and I could ever have asked for. You were the most devoted, loving wife, that any man could ever wish, to Sigi, for nearly 73 years. You were a fantastic grandmother to Lenny, Tamar, and Elana. We will miss you but your smile, advice, values, suggestions, humor and unconditional love and affection for all of us will endure forever. We are sure you will finally get reunited with Poldi, your father, your mother, and your step mother who are waiting to embrace you in heaven. Please watch over all of us. Whenever we hear a bird chirp in the morning we will think you are letting us know that all is well and how much you miss us.’
Stephen Winters
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Received on 2019-10-24 01:55:04