Mina and husband Abner Bar-On, Eretz Israel, 1944Translation by Daphna Brafman Coordinated by Tilford Bartman
With the appearance of the partial Hebrew translation of the Yizkor Book, I looked through the "zabludow book" and scenes from the past surfaced, memories and yearnings rose; in front of my eyes the picture of my parents home was repainted, the home of Sarah Beila and Eliahu Gellerstein. Fate saved us and we, the Gellerstein family, were saved from the Shoa and its atrocities, and we found refuge in a far and beautiful country- Chile.
But since the Shoa my parents lived with a clear feeling that in their hands is the duty and the privilege to take care of immortalizing the memory of the destroyed town, and that they should be the bridge between those who are gone and those who remain and the future generations. As a family member I lived under this atmosphere at home. Our home, first in the far away Chile, and later in Israel, became the address and the center for all the remaining descendants of zabludow who searched for a connection.
In 1936, when an economic crises fell upon the Jews of Poland, relatives of ours who had already left Poland for Chile, my father's brother Yaacov, and my mother's brother Yehoshua Subotnik, began trying to convince my father to try his luck in a far away land.
It was hard for father to depart from the family and from the town of his birth he loved so much, and even harder it was for mother to remain on her own and try to earn living for her family. During the first two years of separation father wrote letters full of yearnings and expressing his desire to return. But in 1938, as the threat and danger of war was increased, father began to plan our immigration to Chile.
We left Poland at the end of June of 1939 in the last ship that left Gdansk toward Germany. With us another family from Zabludow who recently lived in Bialystock- the Raflovski family. Two weeks after we first stepped on Chile's soil- the war began.
We received a warm welcome by families from zabludow who have settled in that far country years ago.
Our home in Santiago became a home and a center for people from Zabludow and my father became the most active in searching for ways and contacts to those who remained. It was only close to the end of the war that the world and we discovered the terrible tragedy. My parents were restless; their first concern was tracing survivors and finding some contacts to provide assistance. My father began to send money via the USA when he learnt about saving councils, and although he wasn't sure the help reached its destiny he at least tried for a basic contribution.
Sometime later, when the size of the disaster was revealed, father, together with people from zabludow who lived in Argentina (with whom he kept in touch during the war), decided to make the plan for the Zabludow book and by so doing to establish a monument and a memorial for the Shoa victims of our town.
To fulfill this plan father began traveling to Argentina and the United States. Zabludow people in Argentina, especially the brothers Yitzhak and Shmuel Chessler, and later other survivors who came to Israel, made this dream come true.
My parents moved to Israel in 1953 and settled in Tel- Aviv. They left good comfortable life and followed their sons who came to Israel as the state was established. The sons were members of Hashomer Hatsair (a Socialist Zionist movement) in Chile and when the state of Israel was established they concluded that they have to contribute to the young state. In 1949-50 the sons made an aliah to Israel and settled in a kibbutz.
Again our home, and this time in Tel-Aviv, became a center and a meeting place for people from zabludow. Whoever sought a contact, or any guest from abroad, whose roots were in zabludow, knew how to find my parent's home. It was the home for all. Whoever needed a real help, with money or encouragement and a good word, found a listening ear and a generous hand at my parent's home.
Our father Eliahu suddenly died in 1967. We were very surprised because father never complained. We never knew him to be ill, he was always in a good mood when we were around him. He always interested in all that is happening, to his last day.
Our mother surprised us with the strength and courage she demonstrated following my father's unexpected death. She was determined to maintain the special atmosphere that existed in our home. Our home continued to be open to all; all that came through our door received warmth and concern. Mother's hand was open and generous to charity and educational institutes but for herself she settled for very little.
We loved the spirit of Sabbath and holidays. Although mother remained alone, she continued to insist that the festive mood continues, she kept on making the traditional food and she made sure the sense of holiness is felt at every corner. Everything shone, the home, the beautiful dishes and mom's face…
We, the children and the grandchildren, absorbed the special spirit and, although we are not religious, we continue to express this tradition in many ways- our mother's legacy.
Mother took upon herself our father's job of staying in touch with people of zabludow and with keeping up the annual memorials for the towns martyrs. She saw these events as a sacred occasion and felt it was the most suitable opportunity for a unity. She also felt a great satisfaction from the meetings with the few survivors. She had a great interest in everybody and saw herself as if she was the mother of those who came for the memorial.
During the last years of her life her health was very bad and she suffered from terrible pains. But mother did not give up; she continued her activity in "Bnei Brit", she participated in helping in a nursing home, she did not skip meetings and events and maintained a proper appearance all the time, and even on her last days she remained noble, beautiful, active and involved.
And that is how we shall remember our mother, we, family members, friends, and the entire family of zabludow in the land.
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