Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/03/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Thank you to all of you for the warm and overwhelming reaction to my post. I will of course publish a full report and pics next week. For completeness' sake I should also mention that the other boy who escaped with Joseph also survived the war (I do not know any details). He ended up in the US where he lived a happy life by all accounts. He died in Las Vegas some time in the late 90s, I think. 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 On Mar 5, 2010, at 5:44 PM, Bob Adler wrote: > What a wonderful event for a you, your family and especially Joseph. I > wish I could join you. It is a once in several generations celebration of > the love of life and perserverence to not only survive but live fully. > Please extend my heartfelt congratuations to your uncle and enjoy soaking > up every moment of this momentus occasion with your family. I'm looking > forward to seeing your images (as well as the film when it comes out with > subtitles). > All the best, Nathan, > Bob > Bob Adler > Palo Alto, CA > http://www.rgaphoto.com > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu> > To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org> > Sent: Thu, March 4, 2010 10:05:27 PM > Subject: [Leica] OT: my French family in film > > 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 >