最新杏吧原创

Kamenetzky was an eye doctor whose grandfather had immigrated here from Poland. Szapszewicz was a Polish immigrant and a Holocaust survivor. They talked a long time that day, about World War II, the Jewish ghettos in Poland, about the Holocaust and immigrating to the U.S.

鈥淗e just lit up,鈥� said Kamenetzky, now retired and a guide at the 最新杏吧原创 Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. 鈥淚 still remember that to this day, the amazement on his face that I actually knew where he was from. It just stuck with me.鈥�

Then, just a few days ago, Kamenetzky read in a newspaper story that Szapszewicz鈥檚 family had lost almost all its belongings in this summer鈥檚 flood, not least of which were boxes of photos and documents left by Szapszewicz and his wife.

Kamenetzky called his museum co-workers immediately. They鈥檇 been thinking the same thing 鈥� they should help.

They called the United Way of Greater 最新杏吧原创鈥� , an annual effort to deliver goods and cash assistance to families across the region facing hardships, and they volunteered to 鈥渁dopt鈥� Szapszewicz鈥檚 family 鈥� donating household items requested by each of four family members. The museum this week launched for the family, too.

鈥淚t just seemed to me a natural thing,鈥� said Kamenetzky, 77, of Chesterfield. 鈥淭he Szapszewics had helped to relate the message and lessons of the Holocaust to the community for so many years, that it would be the least we could do try to help the family, to honor their memory at this difficult time.鈥�

Kamenetzky met Szapszewicz that day at his office. But Jacob and his wife, Maria, were among the earliest local survivors to have their stories and teachings recorded and exhibited by the museum.

Maria Szapszewicz, born in 1922 in Lodz, Poland, had lived in two Nazi ghettos during World War II and was forced to work as a slave laborer in a Nazi ammunition factory for two years before she was sent to Auschwitz, and later, Bergen-Belsen concentration camps.

Jacob Szapszewicz, born in 1914 in the small village of Smilow, Poland, had escaped a Nazi slave labor camp where he toiled for two years and hid in the surrounding forest for the better part of a year, until January 1945, when he moved into the liberated village of Smitov, Poland. He was one of five survivors out of his entire family of more than 100 people. Among those killed were his parents and three brothers.

The two married and had two daughters, then immigrated to the United States, and joined Maria鈥檚 brother in 最新杏吧原创. Jacob worked as an accountant; Maria in fashion design and dress making. Jacob Szapszewicz died in 2004, Maria in 2012. Both were 90.

Their stories now grace the walls and archives of the Holocaust Museum here.

But it was the newspaper story that caught Kamenetzky鈥檚 attention in recent days.

The Szapszewiczes鈥� daughter, Joanna, her granddaughter, Marisa Scott, and great-granddaughter, Mira Scott, were featured in a Nov. 20 Post-Dispatch story kicking off the United Way campaign.

Marisa, 34, Ben Smith, 29, and their daughter Mira, 1, had left Chicago in June and moved in with Joanna in University City. They had stored all their belongings in the basement.

Then the floods hit, filling the basement with sewage and rainwater. Joanna lost almost everything, too, including photos and papers collected by her parents over the decades.

Joanna said she drew strength from the lessons her parents taught, about hope and perseverance. 鈥淚鈥檓 very happy to know a lot of people still know who my parents were and that they had an impact on them,鈥� she said.

And she praised the contributions to the 100 Neediest Cases Campaign, which, this year, will help hundreds whose lives were upended by the July floods.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a wonderful thing that people are stepping up and this is a time to do it,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are many people who need more help than we did.鈥�

The museum fielded multiple calls from people who read about the family and wanted to help, said Amy Lutz, the museum鈥檚 director of marketing and communications.

鈥淢y fingers are crossed,鈥� Lutz said, 鈥渢hat they鈥檒l be overwhelmed with support.鈥�