Dorothy Kraus Memoir - My Paternal Grandmother's Home

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Dorothy Kraus Memoir

My Paternal Grandmother's Home
We had never felt close to father's family. There was a snobbishness between mother's family and them. They were considered proste menshen (common people). His mother, who had become a widow early, continued to practice her husband's trade, comb-making. And she was nicknamed chaike die kamelmacher, the maker of combs.

My Father's Mother

Grandmother was greatly surprised to see us, having assumed that we were on our way to America. But she made us welcome though we noticed that there were only two rooms in the house. One was the workshop and the other was for the entire family to live and sleep in. But I was impressed with this grandmother. She was a big woman, not too handsome. and she wore a sheitel (wig) all day long. But she was gentle just like father, and spoke little. Her two young sons were completely non-communicative.

Mother realized that this was no place to linger. So after a few days we again climbed on a wagon and travelled to Wysokie Litewskie.

Editor's Notes: Assuming the family took a rural route to avoid Brest, busy with war preparations, the wagon trip could have been at least 75km (45 mi) on primitive country roads.

This material is from Original Page 20 and Original Page 21; the photo is from Original Page 33a.

Page Last Updated: 15-Nov-2012