The Southington Citizen | southingtoncitizen.com
Friday, May 9, 2014
Gwozdz When Soviet soldiers advanced west, they occupied the “new house” for a time, while my mom and her family took refuge in a root cellar. Her mother, my grandmother, caught pneumonia from the damp conditions and never recovered. After the war, there was little left for them in Poland and so, over the course of several years, they went back to America. As American citizens, my mother and her siblings had easy entry, but my grandfather’s return was not so smooth. It took the efforts of a senator and congressman from Massachusetts to cut through the red tape. About a year after she arrived, my mom met my father and she settled into a quiet life and raised three children, including me. She was determined to learn English. Even today, when
she’s reading a newspaper or book, there’s always an English- Polish dictionary at her side. For a long time I wasn’t sure if she wanted to go back to Poland. Finally, in 1994 I asked her and when she agreed I went with her. I took five hours of video. Now, of course, my mother’s life wasn’t all gloom and doom. She, along with my aunts and uncles made the most of life, and family gatherings were always filled with laughter. But six of my mother’s 90 years were spent during the war. They were the defining years of her life. And, of course, she wasn’t alone. Stories like hers could be told by thousands and even millions of people who lived through those same terrible times. But, for all of that, my mom doesn’t speak of those years with bitterness. What got her through was the
strong support of her family and the even stronger faith in God they all shared. It was faith in God’s incredible love that gave my mother, and people like her, hope, incredible hope in the face of incredible trials. During the hardship of the second World War, it was the faith of my mother, and people like her, that helped them to hear God’s voice of comfort and strength — strength that gave them patience and resilience. God provided for my mother every day of her 90 years. He provides for her now as she enjoys the care she receives in an assisted living facility. And it is with her kind of faith that I can hope and pray that God will continue to provide for her, and people like her, all the days of their lives.
Holocaust remembrance held at local congregation By E. Richard Fortunato Special to The Citizen
On April 27, in an illustrious program observing Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Gishrei Shalom Jewish Congregation presented an unforgettable musical production honoring those who perished in the horrors of the Holocaust during World War II. The principal program was a moving multi-media interpretation of the stories of prisoners in the camps, combining music, chorus and instrumentalists with dramatic full screen pictures of the WWII concentration
camps, interspersed with readings capturing a profound sense of one’s presence in the past. Held at First Congregational Church of Southington, the “Holocaust Cantata: Songs from the Camps,” with music by Donald McCullough, was performed by two select choirs of Cheshire High School, the VIPs and Chromatix Ensemble, under the direction of Beth Malvezzi Rosenblatt, with the superlative piano and cello instrumentation of Mayjane Peluso and Celeste Cumming, respectively. See Remembrance / Page 12
Rev. John Gwozdz serves at St. Thomas Becket Church.
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