In today’s The Gazette Bill Brownstein has an absolutely terrific piece on Montreal holocaust survivors Eva and Ruda Roden as they celebrate their seventieth wedding anniversary.
I have a personal note to add; a couple of summers ago I was in my local supermarket going about my shopping when I noticed an older couple in the produce section. They were what people would call a “cute” couple as the pushed their cart together. It was only when I found myself beside them and the gentleman reached in front of me to grab something that I noticed his tattoo, then hers. It stopped me in my tracks; I was stunned. Not that I was unaware that such tattoos exist, but rather it brought home in an instant the unimaginable horrors that this couple must have experienced as well as the strength and determination they must possess. There was something surreal to watch people going about the banal chore of grocery shopping while this cute older couple did likewise.
I hope they still have many more years together. Mazel tov!
Poignant and lovely post.
Thanks for sharing this important story. Everyday and extraordinary at the same time.
A great aunt and uncle (my bubie’s sister and brother-in-law) also had tattoos from Auschwitz. They died in the early 1980s.