The Dawn of a New Day

Flora visited the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows Park, which is located outside of New York City. It was a very propitious time, not long before the invasion of Poland by the German Army. The theme of the Fair, believe it or not, was “Building the World of Tomorrow.” Some tomorrow, wasn't it? Still during the time of the Depression, new materials and technologies were introduced, e.g. the television. They tried to give all Americans a dreamy glimpse of what the future would be, even though in the not-too-distant future, the world would soon become engulfed in another war.

Yet in February 1939, Flora took her Oath of Allegiance and became a United States citizen. What a proud day that must of been for her! She was so thankful that she had emigrated from her home in Poland, but her departure must have been bittersweet because she had to leave her mother and four brothers behind. Three of her brothers would eventually immigrate to the United States before the Second World War.

On September 17 of the same year, a short time after my grandmother visited the World’s Fair, Germany invaded Poland. Just ten days later, the Polish Army surrendered. Thousands upon thousands of Polish Jews fled to the Russian zone, as Russia and Germany had divided Poland once again. Warsaw, once home to more than 350,000 Jews, fell. Over one-third of Polish Jewish soldiers were killed, and the remainder were captured, with a similar fate awaiting them in captivity.

The following spring, Jews were forced into “ghettos,” separated out from the general population. Of the 3.3 million Jews living in Poland, only one in eleven would survive. On July 10, 1941, in the town of Jedwabne, Poland, home to 1,600 Jews, including my grandmother’s mother Sheina Gitel and her only son Zalman and whatever family he might have had, most likely perished in the pogrom there, as did most all the fellow Jews who lived there.

Below is a photograph of my grandmother Flora at the 1939 World's Fair.