Holocaust survivor Krysia Stopnicki finally got to hold a cherished possession that once belonged to her mother. Krysia is one of the few Jewish children born in the Lodz ghetto who miraculously survived. In spite of the grueling conditions in the ghetto, Kyrsia's father Jacob gave her mother Tania a silver powder compact, trading his daily ration of bread for a gift to his beloved. Tragically, her mother Tania passed away a year after the ghetto was liberated. After the war, Jacob gave the compact to a family friend who ultimately donated it to Yad Vashem. Recently, Yad Vashem researchers contacted Krysia in Canada, to let her know that her mother's compact was on display in the Holocaust History Museum.
Last year, Krysia's daughter, Tina Rosenstein and her husband Marcel toured Yad Vashem with their two sons, Eric and Sean, in honor of Sean's bar mitzvah. Yad Vashem's Artifacts Department informed the family of their extraordinary discovery by staff that a small silver powder compact that once belonged to Tina's grandparents is on display in the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum. They eagerly returned to Israel from their hometown in Canada to view this special Holocaust-era treasure for the very first time.
Photos: Mother and Daughter, A Family Gathering and Portrait of a Couple, Henryk Ross, 1940-44 © Art Gallery of Ontario
