Fragments that Remain

In March 1943 Lily Westrop was born in the town of Kampen along the banks of the river Issel, Holland. The Issel was an access point to the English Channel and used by the Dutch Resistance to send those they rescued to safety, away from occupied Europe. Lily’s father was a Dentist, and hid Polish airmen in their home, whilst her mother wet nursed a Jewish baby girl born the same year, alongside Lily. The baby’s name was Rachel. In 1943 most of the Jews in Holland had been rounded up and were in camps. Although nothing more is known about Rachel, her family or their fate, her mother gave Lily’s mother two Menorah Candelabra as a thank you for caring for her baby. Over 70 years later Lily gave these Menorah as a gift to Debby Taylor, knowing she was Jewish. They both live in the town of Alford, Scotland.

Debby has made every effort to discover what may have happened to Rachel and would love to return the Menorahs to her family, but so far has been unsuccessful. These Candelabra, an ancient symbol of the Jewish people and of light triumphing over the darkness, are a tangible reminder of the history of Europe’s Jews.

My mother, Elizabeth Lis, was born in London in November 1943, and similarly cared for by a woman who was not her own mother Helena Rothenberg. Helena’s family came from the town of Stryj in Poland (now Ukraine) which had a population of around 12.000 Jews in 1939. In August 1943 the ghetto was liquidated and the Jews, murdered. All her family still living there were killed. These two Menorah remind me of my mother’s survival due to the the sacrifice of two women, and that of all those women who were forced to make the most excruciating choice – to surrender their babies to others, that they might possibly live.

Jennie Milne 2020