The letter brought a bittersweet end to Sol Factor’s 17-year search for his mother, a Holocaust survivor who disappeared in the aftermath of World War II: “We regret to inform you that we located the above mentioned person, but she would not like to be contacted by the inquirer,” reads the message from Magen David Adom, the Israeli counterpart of the American Red Cross.
Factor, who had found clues to his past with the help of the Red Cross and a vast archive of Nazi records, knows only that his mother, now 83 years old, is living in Israel.
“Of course I’m disappointed because one likes searches like this to end with happy reunions,” he said in an interview in his home in this Cleveland suburb.
“There’s a sense of actual relief too, because now some of the mystery has been solved,” he said.
Factor, 60, was born Meier Pollak in Munich, Germany, in 1946 to Romanian-born Rosa Pollak, also spelled Polak. He has found documents showing that Rosa Pollak and her newborn son were discharged from a maternity hospital on July 9, 1946, and soon after went to a United Nations-sponsored hospital for refugees in Munich. Within days they became separated.
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9 Responses
It is evident that there is much baggage involved that causes the mother to make this decision. She should have the final say, and may hashem grant her nechama for all she has suffered.
As a mother, I just dont see the logic in this but ofcourse I havent suffered the way she has. Can she live the rest of her life knowing that her son is still alive without any closure? I wonder how,,,,,
This baffles me. Many questions. Where is that “reporter’s edge” in this article? It is as vague as can be.
Wow, this is so tragic. I think it’s harder maybe for the son, no? Because perhaps everyone wants to know where they came from and who their mother was. But then again, perhaps it’s harder for the mother because she knows that an extension of herself is somewhere out there. Wow, so scary.
This is definitely tragic for both mother and child…but after reading so much about what people went throguh during the holocaust, there might be some very strong reasons for her not wanting to see her child. After what she went through, who knows who the father might be???
How can this be?
I don’t understand. Why would she not want to meet her son?
Please keep in mind that the mother is elderly and could be suffering from Alzheimer’s or a similar disorder (possibly including one or many disorders connected to her years in the Nzi Gehennom) and she may not have been able to understand the information that she received.
Nebech. My heart goes out to him. I would like to see more sympathy on behalf of the son.
Flatbush Bubby;
Thank you, I second that!