מאגר סיפורי מורשת

My full name now is Elizabeth Jane Morris, but, before I got married my family name was Isaacs.

My Grandfather, Julius, when he arrived from Vistytis in Lithuania, decided, like his brother Henry who was already living in England, to change the family name from Postawelski to Isaacs.

Postawelski was too difficult to spell so Isaacs was chosen because their father’s name was Isaac. The family in America made the name much easier and called themselves Post.

The name Postawelski – It is probably after the name of a village in Poland called Postawele. The ‘ski’ means ‘of’ or ‘from’.

My parents were both born in England. My dad was a Watchmaker and businessman and my mum was a secretary.

Grandma Liz

My dad’s name was Albert Edward Isaacs, but he was known as, Teddy. He was born in Sheffield. My mum’s name was Rosemary Joan Hurwitz. She was born in Leeds. Does Albert Edward sound like a Jewish name? Does my name Elizabeth sound Jewish? My father was named after Queen Victoria’s husband and eldest son and I am named after Queen Elizabeth. My dad’s Hebrew name is Arieh Leib and mine is Elishevah.

I didn’t know my grandmother, Tillie, on my dad’s side. She looks a very pretty lady and my dad said she was an excellent cook. I do remember my grandfather, Julius but I was 4 years old when he died. On my mum’s side, I never met my grandfather, Sol, because he died when my mum was 15 years old. He came from Riga in Latvia. My mum said he loved to listen to music and to play golf. I did know my grandmother, Elsie, but we called her Grandy. She lived until she was 96 years old and she loved to travel and play Bridge.

My sister, Jill

You know my sister, Jill. She has 3 children, Robert, Julia and Rachel. They all live in London. She worked for my dad until she and her husband, David, bought a Real  Estate Agency.

My uncles and aunts

My mum had one brother, Michael, married to Sybil, and a son, Stephen, who still lives in Sheffield. My dad had 3 sisters, Phylis, Maisie and Edna. Only  Edna had children, Margaret, David and Judith. One of Margaret’s children, Julian, was the Rabbi at your mum and dad’s wedding.

My mum was a secretary and her first job was in Leeds, where she lived, in a factory that made light bulbs. When she got married she moved to Sheffield and was my dad’s secretary until she had kids. My dad was a watchmaker like his father but he enlarged the business by buying watches from Switzerland with his own trade names, Summit and Regus. He also sold jewelry and Pewter tankards. However, during the Second World War, the business changed to making small precision parts that were needed for the war, particularly the landing gear for airplanes.

Family photo

He was in the British Airforce at the end of the Second World War and then he worked in my dad’s business.

My grandparents

My grandfather, Julius, was a watchmaker and started the business that my dad went into. Grandy was a Math teacher and later owned a shop in Leeds selling Ladies’ clothes.

I’m not sure about their dreams. I know my dad wanted to live half of the year in England and half of the year in Israel. Grandy had the dream of living in Israel and when she sold the shop she came. She lived in Israel for over 2 years but returned to England because she missed the family.

Grandma Liz

I’m going to tell you a story that my dad always told about our family. He said that many years ago one of our Jewish ancestors, called Saul Wahl, was King of Poland for a day. That story was enough to make my dad very interested in our family history. In fact, he wrote two books where he included family trees.

Family photo

When I started school I found it difficult because I hadn’t been to Nursery School and I wasn’t used to playing with other children. I got bullied and it was only when I learnt to make friends that I managed better. I also couldn’t read very well and had to have extra classes. Now I am a fast reader and love having a good book to read. My favorite subjects were Art, History and Sport. When I was 18 I went to University in Leicester and then Manchester to study Art and Design, specializing in Fashion and Printed Textiles.

It was in Manchester that I met Terry, your Pop. We met in 1967 the year of The 6 Day War. We went out a couple of times and when the war started Terry volunteered. I also went to Israel after the war was over, on a student trip, and met up with Terry in Jerusalem for a day. I had sent my address to Terry’s home on a postcard. When we were both back in Manchester we went out for 5 years before getting married.

On our wedding day

Terry and I both felt very connected to Israel but didn’t decide to make Aliyah until Adam was 7 and Debbie was 4. It was a big decision to make and wasn’t an easy thing to do. In England, I had worked as a Fashion Designer, an Art teacher and I ran a Jewish Nursery School in Hale Barns, near Manchester, but when we made Aliyah I worked from home making curtains and bedspreads until I started working at Beth Hatefutsoth as a guide for English-speaking groups. I worked there for over 30 years and found my Fashion background useful when I designed and looked after the costumes that were used in some of the programs.

With my grandparents

Working at Beth Hatefutsoth was a wonderful reminder for me about the amazing story of how Jews lived all over the world trying to manage without their own country, and how important the modern State of Israel is.

After leaving Beth Hatefutsoth I started tutoring English which I still do, but now as a volunteer.

Family photo 

 Grandma Liz tells about her dream – link to the video – סבתא ליז מספרת על החלום שלה קישור

הזוית האישית

הנכד ניב: הייתי רוצה לאחל לסבתא שלי שתחייה שנים ארוכות, ושהיא סבתא מעולה ואני שמח שהיא חייה היה לי כיף לעבוד על הסיפור למדתי הרבה על סבתא שלי.