Ester Peeri (nee Mendlowicz, born 1922 in Krzepice) about her family before and during war and live in Palestine/State of Israel
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An English resuem of an interview in Herew that took place in Israel, as a part of the Polis Roots in Israel Project. Interviewee name: Ester Peeri
The Family Story
Ester Peeri was born on 25.12.1922 in Krzepice, a small town located North-West of Częstochowa, Silesian Voivodeship. Her parents were Berl and Chaia (nee Rozen) Mendlowicz.
Berl Mendlowicz was born in ~1886 in Lipie, a village in Kłobuck County, Silesian Voivodeship, near Krzepice. Lipie lies approximately 86 km north of Katowice. His father was Levi Mendlowicz who was a forest assessor. Levi was married to Lea (nee Aleksandrowicz). Lea was a medical doctor. She was born and raised in Russia, where she completed her academic studies and became a physician. Due to her profession, Lea was invited to Poland by Count Potocki, who provided her with a large modern house in Lipie. Lea had a private clinic which was situated in her house. Besides attending to her patients, she also used to concoct the medications they needed herself.
Levi and Lea had five sons: Berl, the interviewee's father, was the eldest. Next were Herschl (married to Handl), Chaim (married to Mala), Jechiel (married to Malka) and Josef (married to Zvia). They all perished in the Holocaust with their families.
Levi Mendlowicz drowned in a river during one of his business trips to a client of his, a nearby landlord. He took his son Herschl with him on that trip and while they were walking along the riverside, Levi warned his son to be careful and not to walk too close to the water. A short while later, he himself stumbled, fell into the water and drowned. The interviewee has no recollection of Grandfather Levi.
Later on Lea remarried Ya'akow Rotbard. Ester Peeri recalls him as her grandfather. Lea and Ya'akow had four sons: Avram-Mendl, Mordechai, Dawid and Mosze. All of them except for Mordechai, perished with their families in the Holocaust. Mordechai Rotbard escaped to the Soviet Union and later was enlisted into the "Anders Army" (the Polish Armed Forces in the East in the period of 1941-1942). He reached Palestine with the "Anders Army" in 1942 and settled down there.
Grandmother Lea Mendlowicz-Rotbard passed away in 1938 at the age of 83.
Berl Mendlowicz married Chaia Rozen, probably in the first decade of the twentieth century. Chaia was born in Krzepice. Her father was Mosze Rozen. The name of Chaia's mother is not recollected. Mosze had a grocery shop in Krzepice. Both of the Rozen grandparents died prior to WWII. Chaia had two brothers, Ya'akow and Szlomo-Chaim and two sisters, Nacha and Ester.
After their marriage, Berl and Chaia settled down in Krzepice, Chaia's hometown. The Mendlowicz family lived at 21 Targowa Street in Krzepice. They had a workshop which manufactured sweets, a sweets wholesale store and a pastry shop. All those businesses were located in the same building where the family lived. Berl and Chaia had ten children:
Levi-Yitzhak Mendlowicz was born in ~1909. He immigrated to Palestine in 1933.
Yossef Mendlowicz was born in ~1911. Ester recalls that he distanced himself from the Jewish religion and became secular. He perished in the Holocaust with his wife Riwka.
Dwora Mendlowicz was born in 1914. She was unmarried when she perished in the Holocaust.
Chaim Mendlowicz was born in 1916. He immigrated as a pioneer to Palestine in 1936. In Palestine he married Machcia and had two daughters, Dvora and Chaia who currently live in the city of Ramat Gan, Israel.
Dawid Mendlowicz was born in 1919. Dawid survived the Holocaust. He immigrated to Palestine with his wife Ester and their son Dow in 1946. In Israel they had two more children.
Ester Peeri (Mendlowicz), the interviewee, was born in 1922, see hereafter.
Avram Mendlowicz was born in 1923. Upon the outbreak of the war, he, with other youngsters, escaped eastward to the Soviet Union. Nothing was heard of him since.
Nacha Mendlowicz was born in ~1924. She perished in the Holocaust.
Pinchas Mendlowicz was born in ~1924. He perished in the Holocaust.
Pessia Mendlowicz was born in 1928. She perished in the Holocaust.
In the late 1920s, the family's various businesses collapsed due to heavy taxes which were laid upon them. Berl had to close down everything and moved with his family to Częstochowa, the larger city nearby, which might offer better economic opportunities (1930).
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