My Relatives in Kosiv
Part 7
We spent the last day of our time in Ukraine back in Kosiv. There was some disappointment as we found a
house that looked like Mom's and the woman next door confirmed that a Genya, same name as the Ukrainian girl
Mom used to play with, lived in the vicinity, but Alex was careful about letting us jump to conclusions since
the woman in the house was sick and would not let us in. I think it was probably not Mom's house, but I left
it for Alex to figure out at a later date. (Even Mendelsohn in his book does not discover the awful fate of
his family until his second visit to Bolochov) We next met some more Woloshtchuks who I hoped would be
"the ones" since they came well recommended from a telephone tip to Alex, but after much searching
we realized they weren't." The only thing we did find that day was confirmation that Mom's story of her
escape from her uncle's house before she went into hiding was probably very accurate, since she insisted that
she ran down some slope and crossed a little river no deeper than her ankles, her shoes in her hands so not to
get them wet, where the Nazis couldn't see her and shoot at her. The "little river" clearly
wasn't the Ribnetze, which is exposed and deep, but I inadvertently stumbled upon a shallow stream that feeds
into the Ribnetze that neither Alex or I knew about before we came.
There is that song, "Kol Ha'olam coolo, gesher tzar me'od" ("The whole world is only a
very narrow bridge..." ). For Mom it got a little wider this week as she traipsed over the
Muskowlufka bridge time and time again to relive the nightmare she prayed would not haunt her
dreams after it ended 60 years ago, but also to let her brothers and sisters know she had returned despite her
fears to say Kaddish out loud on a mountain top with me and Alex with his Yarmulke standing by her side.
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My mother on the Muskowlufka Bridge in Kosiv. (Click on photo to see a
larger view, which will open in a new window.) |
P.S. About a month after my return, I received archival information that confirmed that my grandfather Ezra
Bader not only had 4 siblings in America, but also 2 more in the Kosiv area, Asne (Jenny) and Feige, my mother’s
original name. Turns out Feige died young at the tender age of 16 and my mother was most probably named after
her aunt. The search continues….
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My mother's family. (Click on photo to see a larger and full view,
which will open in a new window.) |
© Ethan Schaff 2007
