Brzesko and Krakow

In spite of just two hours' sleep, I felt remarkably alive as I got off the plane at the Krakow Airport this morning around 11:45. I sailed through customs, picked up my bag, and found Ditlaff, my driver and guide waiting for me. Ditlaff is the owner of Jarden Books and Travel, the first Jewish bookstore in Krakow, established shortly before "Shindler's List" made this castle city famous.

Within one hour of my arrival, we were at the Brzesko Cemetery. An old lady who rarely leaves her nearby home let us into the overgrown, tall-grassed resting place outside this small town 30 miles east of Krakow. Once inside the gate, Ditlaff pointed me to a monument that was the object of my journey. Made of black marble and inscribed in Hebrew and Polish, the monument states that 200 Jews from Brzesko were murdered by the Nazi barbarians in June 1942. This is the likely burial site of my aunt ( my mother's oldest sister Ryfka Galas Loeffelholz) and her baby son Ignacy. A letter from Ryfka's brother-in-law bears testimony to the Nazi pogrom that happened on the town's streets at that time. I lit a candle for them and hoped that mom knew that I had found their final resting place.

At 3 p.m., we were back in Krakow, and just as Ditlaff pulled up to the Hotel Ester, waiting for me on the curb was my Hungarian cousin Nori. She and her mom Magda drove all the way from Budapest today to meet me. Magda and I greeted each other with tears and hugs, and though we cannot speak each other's languages, we communicate just fine. I shared family photos with them and some small gifts, and they did the same. I kept looking at the two of them, searching for the Munk family resemblence. I certainly saw it in Magda. We even commented on the similarity of the thickness of our hair. We must have talked for two hours before we decided we were hungry.

After walking around Kazimerz Square, the Jewish section, checking menus for an appropriate dinner, we decided to celebrate our reunion as well as Magda's 60th birthday at a local Jewish restaurant.

Nori is fluent in English--beautiful (looks like Meryl Streep), smart, warm, and kind to her mother. She must have been exhausted by the end of the dinner, having served as translator for her mom and me for more than 5 hours today. I can't stop hugging Magda, and I am sure she is thinking the same thing that I am: what a loss for both of our families that the war separated us.

Nori and Magda want to know when we are all coming to Budapest. Nori is engaged to be married, so perhaps this could be the ocasion for our visit.

Tomorrow, we may visit Auschwitz together, though Magda has expressed some reluctance. Understandable. I have a list of more than 10 relatives, including my grandparents, who were murdered at this hellish place. Magda's great-grandmother and aunt died here, too.

My hotel room is reasonable quiet, clean, and has WiFi. The only thing I could ask for is my family to be with me. Wait! They are!