The Last of the Galas Men

My cousins Sylvia and Zev arranged a beautiful day for us: we took a local ferry to Vaxholm, one of Stockholm's many islands, and enjoyed the warmest day of Sweden's summer. Under a blue sky and mid-80 degree temperatures, all of us met at the harbor to enjoy a day of talking, eating, walking and... did I mention eating?

Along with us were Nomi's mother, Zosia (Sophia) and her step-father Einar. Zosia really hit it off with Genia--they both speak Polish--and I had a chance to talk with Einar on the boat. All of my family members have a connection to the Holocaust, as do Zosia and Einar. But we did not dwell on it. Today was about looking forward.

Zosia told me about her challenging relationship with Nomi's father, Jacques Galas. A warm-hearted woman, she has tried over the years to keep Jacques in her daughter's life, but she shared with me that when I contacted the family in summer 2009, Nomi's desire to get to know her father better became more urgent. Nomi told me that tonight, she and Einar and Zosia (and Einar and Zosia's daughter Mina) would meet with Jacques, a meeting that was a very rare occurrence in the past.

Zosia promised me that she would ask Jacques to meet with me, but I demurred. It was more important for Nomi to be with her father than to introduce him to me. Last fall, when I discovered this family, I called Jacques almost every day for a month and sent him letters, but he did not respond. I knew a little bit about the family rift, but I urged him in one of my letters to put it aside so that we could meet. I was told by everyone not to get my hopes up--that Jacques would not be inclined to get involved.

So after we headed back home from our harbor trip, Courtney and I had dinner, and around 10 p.m., we prepared for bed. In fact, Courtney was already asleep when his cell phone range (it's another story about how Nomi's cell phone died and she lost our mobile number). Nomi's father wanted to meet with us at the local park!

You've never seen me move quite so fast. Within 10 minutes, I was in the embrace of the last of the Galas men. I could not stop looking at this tall (6'2" at least) 58-year-old man whose face could hold the the closest resemblance to my mother's brothers, uncles, and grandfather. Watching this joyful reunion were Courtney, Nomi, Nomi's sister Mina, and Einar and Zosia, who all looked as happy as I did. Zosia winked at me.

Jacques' father Shimon and his grandfather Jacob (after whom Jacques is named) and his uncle Mendel went to Czenstochowa together with my uncle Menachim. Only Shimon survived. His son, Jacques, is the last man to bear the Galas name. We share a painful and sad history. But we did not focus on this. We spent two hours talking in a local pub, laughing, getting to know each other.

Jacques said that on Wednesday, he would take me to the Jewish Stockholm cemetery where Shimon and his sister Rosemarie are buried. There, we can say goodbye to the sadness and look ahead to more joyful times.