Paris Cousins

For me visiting Betty and Gilbert in Paris was the highlight of the trip. While Sol slept that first afternoon, I took two separate trains to reach Gilbert and Betty's apartment block on the south east part of Paris. To put the relationship in perspective, Gilbert was my mother's 1st cousin.
When I arrived at the apartment block I was overwhelmed with anticipation. Running on adrenalin was the order of this day. I knew this would be my only opportunity to see my family in Paris so I had to make sure it happened. I called Gilbert from the hotel at about 1.30pm when we were finally able to take possession of our room. The hotel staff had not prepared the room in time for our earlier arrival so we had a delay and stored our bags in their lock up security room and went out to walk and buy some lunch.
Once settled the call to Gilbert greeted me with a "please come now, since we need to be somewhere later tonight". I told Gilbert it will take me about an hour and that I would leave right away. He spoke no English, I spoke no French. We both however spoke the mama Loshen...Yiddish so communication was possible.
Upon arriving at their apartment block I rang their apartment intercom and asked if I should come up in the elevator. They were on a high floor. Gilbert replied that I should wait at the elevator and he will come down to get me.
When the elevator door opened I smiled broadly and very excitedly. He was a little more subdued and seemed as though he was unsure what type of person he was allowing into his home. He knows I'm family but as we all know the individual person can still be someone he may not wish to interact with until he feels comfortable that I'm the type of person he hopes I am.
It took very little time for all of us to bond and communicate as though we lived in the same city and were close. Betty and Gilbert were wonderful. I brought Mary's Genealogical family tree of the Goldfarbs (my mother's and Gilbert's mother's family) so we could fully discuss the linkages. Of significance to me was the fact that I could ask Gilbert about all the details of exactly when his parents left Poland for France. I could ask about how his parents and older brother survived the war in hiding, How he survived in a Catholic orphanage as a very young boy because of the kindness and bravery of the Catholic priest who ran the orphanage. Details also of his sister Blima, who was caught by the French Police by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her transport to Auschwitz began in Paris and was facilitated by a train ride to Drancy in Paris from where huge numbers of French Jews were train transported to Krakow in south western Poland only 60kms from their last port of call on this earth, Auschwitz. Also known as the Polish town of Oswiecim. The Germans called this town Auschwitz in German and refused to use the Polish place name.
The journey for Blima and so many tens of thousands of French Jews was more than 1500kms of hell in itself. Many died on the journey without food, water or any sanitary conditions.
My visit continued with Betty and Gilbert including a short meeting with one of their daughters Sophie.
As I first said, this was the best 3 hours of the whole trip for me. I was able to talk to, laugh with, reminisce with and become fully at home with the last remaining vestige of my mother's family in Europe. They were wonderful.
A year earlier I had been fortunate enough to ship my bike to Israel and ride Israel from top to bottom and most places in between. I visited with Betty and Gilbert's other daughter Karinne who had moved from France to Israel some 18 years earlier.
When it was time to leave their apartment Betty and Gilbert refused to let me take the train back to my hotel. They drove me the whole way through some of the scenic sections of Paris itself. It was emotional and painful saying goodbye.
Unfortunately, this year...2021 Gilbert passed away from a long term illness. Betty and Sophie and her children have now moved to Israel to be near Karinne so the family is together there.
Hopefully I will be able to visit with them in the foreseeable future.
If I had not made this trip to Europe I would have never met with Gilbert. He was exactly the same as my mother's description of Gilbert's mother (my mother's Aunt Hinda)...a wonderful person. Since he has now passed away our meeting has become even more meaningful. I spoke to him on the phone over the years but the physical meeting was something I will never forget.

Baruch Dayan Haemet