Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/03/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]An achingly sad but true story that likely will be brought to life just so...finally.. Godspeed Nathan, congratulations... I hope you enjoy the film and Paris, and will savor the present day realities. Steve > On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 1:05 AM, Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu> > wrote: > >> Around 1920 my granduncle Shmuel (Samuel) Wajsman emigrated from Lublin in >> Poland to Paris in search of a better life. There, he and his wife did >> indeed build a new life, under the name Weismann, courtesy a French >> immigration official who had trouble with our Polish-Yiddish name. In >> Paris, >> they had 3 children, two girls and a boy, the latter named Joseph and born >> in 1931. >> >> In 1942 the Vichy government rounded up French Jews at the behest of the >> Germans. Most ended up in the gas chambers at Auschwitz, including >> Joseph's >> entire family. But not Joseph. He escaped the French holding camp together >> with another boy. They made their way back to Paris only to find empty >> apartments, and parted company there. Joseph eventually was whisked off >> to a >> village in the Loire Valley where he was taken in by the villagers and >> pretended to be just another French village boy. >> >> After the war, Joseph settled in Le Mans and became an apprentice in a >> furniture shop. He later took over that shop and built a successful >> business >> on that basis. For the first 10 years or so after 1945 he was unaware that >> any part of his family in Poland had survived the war. He assumed that >> everyone had met the same terrible fate as his parents and sisters, and >> anyway he had never had any contact with his Polish family as a child. >> Then, >> one day in 1957 or 58, my father "found" him. How it happened is another >> story. But it did happen, and Joseph discovered that he was not alone in >> the >> world as he thought. Since then he has been incredibly devoted to the >> whole >> family. He attends all family gatherings and major events, whether in >> Europe, the US or Israel. >> >> Since he retired, Joseph has devoted much of his life and energy to >> telling >> the story to schools, civic groups etc. around France. He is usually one >> of >> the people who gives a little speech at the annual 8th May celebration in >> front of the prefecture in Le Mans. During the past couple of years he has >> been collaborating with the director and screenwriter of a feature film >> about his life: >> >> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1382725/ >> >> It may not be a Hollywood blockbuster, but it is a substantial film with >> some well-known actors. For Joseph, who has strived so much to tell the >> story, this is of major importance--this film will be seen by a 100 times >> more people than he has reached so far with his message of "never again". >> >> And now the big moment has arrived. The film will be released in the >> Francophone world on Wednesday, and on Monday evening there is the >> "official" avant-premiere organized by Gaumont on Champs-Elys?es. We will >> be >> there together with our French family, to celebrate this big event on our >> family's history. >> >> Over the years, I have shown many pictures of Joseph here on the LUG, for >> example: >> http://www.nathanfoto.com/paw/20.jpg >> http://www.nathanfoto.com/L2002_39_3.jpg >> http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws/uploads/2008/32alt2.jpg >> (the last one at the Holocaust memorial in Berlin in the summer of 2008) >> >> This is all a long way of saying that I am off to Paris on >> Saturday--besides the film, I want to take my daughter to the Louvre and I >> want to visit the graves of two very different musical geniuses at the >> P?re >> Lachaise cemetery, Chopin and Jim Morrison. And, if the weather permits, >> to >> violate French laws and take some people pictures in the Jardin du >> Luxembourg and other similar spots. >> >> >> Nathan >> >> Nathan Wajsman >> Alicante, Spain >> http://www.frozenlight.eu >> http://www.greatpix.eu >> http://www.nathanfoto.com >> >> Books: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/search?search=wajsman&x=0&y=0 >> PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws >> Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information