מאגר סיפורי מורשת

My grandmother, Irene Lax (זיכרונה לברכה) was born in Hungary in the town of Debretzin. She was the oldest of seven children, and her parents were Satmar Hasidim. When she was about 16 years old, the anti-semitism was so rampant in her town that Jewish girls were being pulled off the street by gentiles.

This worried her mother, my Great Grandmother Malka, (זיכרונה לברכה) as her daughter, my Grandmother Irene, was a beautiful and attractive young woman, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Her mother’s suspicions were confirmed when she heard that an official had his eye on my grandmother! Wasting no time, my great grandmother sent her daughter to a boarding house in Switzerland for six weeks and told my grandmother to wait for her until she would come with the rest of her siblings.

Meanwhile, my great grandfather was living with his secular relatives in Chicago, Illinois trying to start a successful business, so he could move his family (my grandmother and her siblings) to America. He wrote letters home to his wife, Great Grandma Malka, about how he hated life in America because it was very hard to remain a religious Jew. Knowing that the situation in Europe was getting worse by the minute, Great Grandma Malka went to her first cousin, the famous Rav Pupa, to ask him if she should still wait six weeks or leave right away. He told her: “Leave this Friday night. Don't wait. Light your candles, and leave the house”.

She did what she was told and left everything in the house with the candles lit. She took a train to meet Grandma Irene in Switzerland, and from there the family went together to the main immigration office in Lahaver, France. Here they faced a new obstacle, as Great Grandma Malka didn’t have enough visas for all her children to get into America. After being denied the visas by the United States Council Office, she would not relent, but each day would take all her seven children with her to sit in the consul’s office, and request for visas.

Even though Great Grandma Malka kept being denied, she did this everyday without fail, until the Consul came out of his office, and told her in no uncertain terms  that they couldn’t give them the visas. Great Grandma Malka responded by saying: “Look into their eyes, because their blood will be on your hands.”

These powerful words convinced the man to grant the Lax family their visas, and in 1939, Grandma Irene and her family were on the last ship out of France to America. They arrived in Ellis Island, America on Erev Pesach.

When they arrived at Ellis Island, the family had to be examined before being allowed to enter the country. Grandma’s Irene’s 12 year old sister was diagnosed with conjunctivitis (an infection in her eye). She was examined by a anti-semitic nurse, who was eager to send another Jew back to Europe, as conjuctivitis was enough to deny her admittance.

Great Grandma Malka was willing to be sent back with her daughter to Europe, as long as the rest of her children could be admitted into America. Thankfully, the doctor who then entered, revealed a Jewish Star necklace underneath his white coat, and immediately cleared my grandma’s sister to enter the country! My grandmother was 17 years old when they arrived in America.

My Grandmother and Grandfather on their wedding day 

Using the money that my great grandfather had managed to save, and the money from Europe that Great Grandma Malka had sewn into her children’s pockets, the family managed to buy a grocery story on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. My grandmother, who was the eldest child, would get up at 4 am to bring in the milk so that her father could go to shul. Since she still had to help Great Grandma Malka take care of her siblings, Grandma Irene went to highschool at night. She entered an essay contest entitled “What America Means To Me” and it won first place! Mayor Lagaurdia of New York, himself,  presented her with the award. My Grandma Irene married my Grandfather Yehoshua Zelinger (The story of Grandpa Yehoshua you can read here) in 1943, and gave birth to four children–all daughters. They made Aliyah in 1979.

הזוית האישית

The granddaughter Elisheva: I really enjoyed sitting with my mother and aunt and hearing about my grandmother’s childhood. Her story is very inspiring, and it showed her bravery and loyalty to her family. I feel like knowing her story helped me feel closer to her. She is a very important woman to our family, and it is truly meaningful for us to have her story saved in this museum. I feel privileged and honored to be the one to write it.