Passover in 1945. She was sent to
recover at a hospital in Sweden, then to a
displaced persons camp. In her testimony
to the Holocaust Awareness Museum
and Education Center, she recalled being
kept with other survivors, quarantined
behind a fence. Locals would peer at them
through the fence.

In 1946, she met Rachmil Zygmuntowicz.

Th ey married two weeks later in a double
wedding ceremony with Bina and Bina’s
fi ancée, Mendel.

“Th e heart knows of reason what
reason doesn’t understand,” she said, on
her decision to marry a man she had
known for less than a month.

In 1953, the young Zygmuntowicz family
moved to Philadelphia through a relocation
program for displaced Jewish people.

Years later, she learned she had family
in the United States. Up until that point,
she thought she was the sole survivor
of her family. Th ey gave her pictures of
her family, something she thought the
Holocaust had taken from her.

Th e Holocaust hasn’t been the only
challenge Zygmuntowicz has faced.

Both her husband and one son died in
separate car accidents.

Some years ago, she fell down the stairs
of her home in Northeast Philadelphia.

She broke her back and was lying on
the fl oor for a full day and night before
anyone found her.

She never fully recovered from the
accident. She relies now on a cane to walk
and doesn’t leave her home on her own.

“No one believed that I’m going to
survive,” she said. “But I did.”
Th e title of her memoir, Remember, My
Child, is a reference to some of the last
words her mother ever said to her.

“Yitkele,” Zygmuntowicz recalls her
mother saying to her, as the Nazis sepa-
rated families entering Auschwitz. Th ey
had sent Zygmuntowicz and her mother
in one direction, and Zygmuntowicz’s
younger siblings in another. In that
moment, Zygmuntowicz’s mother decid-
ed to turn and go with her younger
children, whom she felt needed her more.

“Remember, my child, no matter what
they do, don’t let them make you hateful
and bitter, don’t let them destroy you.”
Th e words are ones she has never
forgotten. My body belongs to me
To God belongs my soul
To my children belongs my inheritance
My love belongs to all ●
szighelboim@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM The Jewish Relief Agency (JRA) provides a
monthly box of food to over 6,000 diverse
individuals across Greater Philadelphia
with the help of our dedicated volunteers.

Contact JRA at (610) 660-0190 to learn
about volunteer opportunities available
for people of all ages and abilities.

More information at www.jewishrelief.org
Taking the Wheel
in Retirement
Classic continuing care
retirement living rolls into the
next generation at Pine Run
with the very real benefit of
four decades of experience.

Cottages and apartments are situated for every best advantage.

Interactions with neighbors and a new, active “Hub” under
construction offer an enriching lifestyle.

Call 800.992.8992
to plan a visit soon.

Pine Run
Retirement Community | Lakeview
The Garden | Health Center
Member of Doylestown Health
777 Ferry Road, Doylestown PA 18901
pinerun.org EOE
THE GOOD LIFE
MAY 9, 2019
23