My Grandmother,
Barbra Katz

Picture of Barbra as a mother (I got this picture from Rona Katz)

If you ask a child who his hero is, he will respond with Fall Out Boy or Brittany Spears, who are "cool" or rich. Children do not understand the definition of a hero. Before you choose your hero, consider this. Did your hero work hard to get where he is? Does he inspire you to do well? Is there something unique about your hero that sets him apart from others? Does he care about others? Does he think for himself? My hero is Barbra Katz, a Holocaust survivor, a mother and my grandmother. When I was with my grandmother, she inspired me to be the best I could be at all times. Her unique and funny personality lit up the room wherever she went. She always gave us something to laugh about.

My grandmother, Barbra Katz, had a very interesting journey. She was raised in Poland. During the Holocaust she lived in the forest hiding from the Nazis. She lived off bread crumbs and wore rags. She witnessed members of her family being killed from begging for food and getting caught. Life was very hard, but then my Great Aunt Ann helped get her into Canada. Later, she met the love of her life, Nuchum. They had my mother and her two brothers, but when my mother was just fourteen, Nuchum passed away. Still, my grandmother stayed strong. She loved our family and she came over every Friday night and sometimes more. Often, we spoke Yiddish together and she taught me how to play the mandolin.

My grandmother was really traditional at heart. What I mean by this is she had the same values as she did in Poland. She was very “practical.” Later in life, we found out sad news. Barbra had colon cancer. My grandmother is a hero because, even with her cancer, she lived on and every day she had she cherished and spent it with her family. She still came over every Friday night and even when she lost her hair, she wore her wig and came with us to TCBY.

Barbra is important to me because she had to overcome so much and still had the strength to live on. She went through the Holocaust, watched her husband pass and struggled with cancer. She has had a great impact on me because she was loving, caring and compassionate. Heroes like that will never be forgotten because we have our memories of her personality and we still laugh about the old-fashioned things she used to say. Barbra has passed on many things to us, one of them being the love of music and the mandolin. Whenever I play it, she lives on in my heart.