Holocaust Remembrance
Gertrude Cook was born March 25, 1924 in Bendin, Poland. Her name at birth was Guta Gutman. She lived with her parents, an older sister, Jadzia and a younger brother who was not well and died before the war began. Her mom also died before the war of breast cancer.
Although Gertrude spoke a lot about the horrors of the concentration camps, she hardly spoke about her family life before the war. Her sister, Jadzia was married with 2 children when the war erupted. Jadzia’s family all perished but her strength and resourcefulness helped save her and my mother.
I believe that the two sisters were together in several of the concentration camps but were separated as the war came to a close. My mom survived Auschwitz, Birkenau and was finally liberated by the British in Bergen Belsen.
Gertrude and Henry Cook lived in neighboring communities before the war and knew each other as friends.
Through the grapevine, my Henry Cook learned that his entire family had perished. He found Jadzia in Germany and she knew that my mother was still alive. He immediately went in search of Gertrude and together they returned to Germany and the sisters were reunited.
Life in the DP camp was another learning experience and there, they were reunited with many other people who had survived. In February, 1946, together with three other couples, they were married under a chuppah in the DP camp.
Some of their friends were able to emigrate to the US, Canada and Palestine. They traveled together to the US aboard the Ernie Pyle and arrived in NY June, 1947 to begin a brand new life. Henry Cook’s uncle provided them with an apartment in a building he owned in the Bronx
Henry Cook was eager to provide for his young family and quickly found work that didn’t allow him to continue his thwarted education with the hopes of becoming a doctor. Their first daughter Toby was born February, 1948 and three years later, a son was born May, 1951. Jadzia remained in Germany where she met and married another survivor, Siegfried.
Together they traveled to the US in 1950 where their daugther, Gloria was born August, 1951.
Gertrude was scarred very deeply and the horrors she experienced were ever present.
Gertrude’s daughter Toby stated “I am still amazed by how much they accomplished and lived to see their two children thrive…my brother became the doctor my dad had dreamed of. In turn, mom and dad became grandparents to 5 grandchildren who were able to put joy back into their hearts.”
