In 2004 I was a waitress in a nice restaurant in SOHO in New York.
One night, a beautiful elderly couple came in and I served them.
The husband was handsome and tall, the lady was beautiful and well dressed.
I could not tell by their accent where were they from - so I asked.
They said they are from New York.
I insisted, I could hear their foreign accent.
Then the husband said they were from Czechoslovakia.
It was right when I finished writing my MA thesis on Czechoslovakia and I was more than happy to meet them.
We exchanged phone numbers and I promised to stay in touch.
In our first meeting I went to their place. William, the man, and Katie, the beautiful woman, became close friends of mine. I heard parts of their story about surviving the Holocaust (he was at Mauthausen and she was at Auschwitz). William told me about moving to Palestina, about fighting for the brand new Israel, about being a pioneer in the new Israeli Industry (I saw pictures!), about serving in the Israeli army, about moving to NYC, about their children and grandchildren. I remember how they were really proud that their son donated money to his Community Library and named in behalf of their honor.
William was one of the only few people who read my thesis. I gave him a copy as a present and he called me after finishing it and said "it was great". I received a book from them that was written about their life (their son, Ron, had the idea for this project) during the Holocaust. I remember I was too emotional about it and William said "oh, Inbar! it happened such a long time ago".
I was honored to meet this amazing couple and was honored that they actually want to spend time with me. We went out for lunch once in a while and I always had a great time with them.
I remember when I left NYC they took me for lunch and I was so depressed because I had to say goodbye.
When I came back to Israel I called them at least every two months. Katie always asked me "when are you coming back?" Then, I heard Katie was not doing very well. However, I felt she is such a strong woman and would fight as hard as she can.
William and I used to email each other from time to time and when I told them I am moving to Germany to live with M. I felt horrible. I felt guilty for moving here, to Germany, the only place on earth they both swear not to return to.
I felt I disappointed them although they didn't say anything about it, they just asked me when will I come back for a visit.
The last time I talked to them on the phone was before I came here.
At around June.
Since then I didn't receive any reply to my emails.
Today I find out that William died on December 6th, from Leukemia.
It was my pleasure and honor to know him.
(More about William from The New York Times)
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2 comments:
Mrs. Salcer would love to hear from you. Please call or write to her (regular mail...she does not use email and she does not have your telephone number).
Not sure you will ever read this, but I worked for Mr. Salcer for many years and was very close to both of them. It just happened that I found his obituary and cried and cried. He and his wife were among the nicest people I have ever known. If you ever read this comment, I would appreciate hearing from you. My name is Carol Failla @ meca974@yahoo.com. So glad you also got to know these extraordinary people!
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