When Visitors Came From America in 1939

I remember my mother telling me about these photos when American relatives visited Lublin in 1939. The story goes that Fanny and Benny Sembler, my Aunt Yetta's sister-in-law and brother-in-law, were traveling to Europe and asked my grandmother to go with them. My grandmother said no because she didn't want to leave my grandfather.

Fanny, with flowers and Benny wearing the white fedora

In the photo on the right are my great grandparents, their family and guests. Sura, my great grandmother, is in the center, standing behind her grandchild. My great grandfather, Abram, is second from the right.

Krymholc family, Lublin, 1939

When planning to attend the reunion in Lublin, I hoped to visit the place where these photos were taken, if it still existed. The background is distinctive so I thought someone from Grodzka Gate could identify the location. Last April, Jackie forwarded the photos to Taduesz. He replied, "Both photos were taken in Old Town in Lublin, next to Brama Trynitarska (Trinity Gate). See you in Lublin!"

Brama Trynitarska, 2017

As I stood by the same passageway as my family 78 years earlier, I thought how this happy, beautiful family could not have known in the coming months they would lose their homes, their freedom and their lives. My heart aches for them and the 6 million. I was there to honor their memory and, in my own way, let them know, our family lives on.