Betty Fagenson Lewis: My Autobiography, 1903 -- 1998
My Grandparents
My grandfather must have been a carpenter in his early years, but developed into a skilled craftsman, a wood sculptor. He would go to the different towns and cities, to the synagogue to do wood carving - pictures and images - and would then color them. He would be away for periods of time. He had expanded his horizons in moving out of the shtetl, going from village to village and town to town. He first carved the doors of the Ark where the Torah rests, in Wisoko-Litovsk, and went on to other villages as his reputation spread. My mother spoke proudly of his work as an artist. I don't remember either of my maternal grand parents.
I do know that my paternal grand parents were alive when I was born, and I have clear memories of my paternal grandmother, Gittel. She worked as a civil servant, as a letter carrier, delivering mail throughout the village. It seems to me that she was unique for that period. I don't think that women were given responsible positions at that time. She was married to Srolkeh (a diminutive form of the name Israel); he was a determined individual in the European tradition, where the father was the provider of the home and his word was law. And again, this marriage between Gittel and Srolkeh was a shiddach - there was no other way of meeting anyone.
It seems to me that my grandmother, Gittel, must have been the provider of the home. My mother talked about Srolkeh as a bench-warmer. But, at the same time, Srolkeh must have been a scholar, studying Torah. The tradition of learning ran very deep in my father's family. It was very important to my grandmother, Gittel, that my sisters and I get an education, and so she took on a second job during our childhood, working in a bakery. She would deliver buckwheat pancakes, made at the bakery, from door to door, early in the morning. I remember my sisters and me up in the alcove in the early morning, warming ourselves, when Bubba Gittel rushed in with her bundle of buckwheat cakes and potatoniks. Kindelach, kum arunter (Translation: Children --an endearing form of kinder-- come down.) We all rushed and tumbled down and ran for our share. I always reacted with joy and glee to her call. In Wisoko-Litovsk, I was most attached to Bubba Gittel. My mother and Gittel got along very well. There was a closeness between them. She was very helpful in our development. My father had gone off to America when I was two and Gittel, as I see it now, was a major support for my mother, in my father's absence. In fact, my mother wanted Gittel to come with us to America. Gittel was already 75 at that time, and said that she was too old and couldn't get used to another medineh (Yiddish word for country).
