Free Out of the Shoebox by Yaron Reshef

you have. I assume then that Pepe is a
relative of your mother's."
    I
was stunned by the email. I had no idea who Pepe Kramer was. I got online
immediately and found the memorial page for the families Sternberg and Vermuth
on the Chortkow website. Next to photo #10 it said: "... Moshe Kramer, a
good friend of Tonia. His sister, Pepe Kramer was her best friend. Both came
from a large wealthy family of which no one survived." This was incredible
– finding a picture of my Uncle Moshe on the page of another family. I had no
idea who Pepe Kramer was. I assumed it was a nickname of my Aunt Selka's or
that I’d found another of my mother's sisters whom I’d never heard of, but that
seemed unlikely.
    So
we went walking in Acadia, Raya and I; my eyes seeing the beautiful landscape,
but my mind busy with this puzzle. It wasn't Selka... Selka was two years older
than Moshe and I don't think they were both friends with the same girl. In
addition, Pepe seemed like a nickname for another person, it didn't
"feel" like it belonged to Selka. I thought that had it been Selka's
nickname it would have come up somehow, I would have heard it from my mother,
or it would have appeared in her memoirs.
    When
we came back from our hike I quickly checked the memorial website and the
photos again. I wrote to Miri:
    "...
This is very strange... Moshe Kramer is certainly my uncle. It is the exact
same photo that I sent you. His sister is Selka Kramer though, not Pepe.
Possibly her nickname was Pepe, but I've never heard it before. Moshe Kramer
had no other sisters except my mother and their sister Selka. There was one
more cousin at home that they had adopted, but she was older than my mother. 
The strange thing is the wording on that web page: “Moshe Kramer, a good friend
of Tonia... Both came from a large wealthy family of which no one
survived." How  could they not know that my mother (Moshe's sister) was
living in Haifa all these years? How could Tonia, who published these photos,
not know that?"
    The
following morning Miri's reply was waiting in my inbox:
    Tonia
Vermuth née Sternberg lives in a senior living complex in Haifa: Dor
Carmel. She is in full possession of her faculties and you can simply talk to
her. She has two daughters about our age... I will get you her phone number. I
can't find it right now, but you can reach her daughter, Hanna Avni, by
email..."
    I
wrote to Hanna that day and asked if it would be possible to ask her mother
some questions about my mother's family, about Moshe, Selka, and whether she
was Pepe. I also asked if Tonka knew what happened to my mother's family. The
next day Hanna responded:
    "Hi
Yaron, I just got off the phone with my mother. She remembers the family. Moshe
Kramer was her classmate. I will find out more when I visit her and will let
you know. Best, Hanna."
    On
Saturday evening I received another email:
    "Hi
Yaron, last night I visited my mother armed with all the material your family
published online. I arrived with mixed feelings, knowing it is emotionally
taxing for her to talk about the past. My mother is the only survivor of a
large, established family, who bravely and heroically survived many hardships
on top of the traumas during the first years of the war when she was still with
her family. Talking about these topics has always made her sad and brings up
emotions that deprive her of sleep for days, so as her family we try to do so
as little as possible. My mother knew your parents, especially your mother, and
what little she told me about them corresponds with what you wrote. She also
said she spent a lot of time at the Kramers' as she was friends with Pepe and
Moshe, who were her age. Her parents also knew your grandparents on your
mother's side. She says they were extraordinary people in their lives, in the
values they lived by and the respect they afforded every man, including of
course adopted family members, and the adopted daughter Pepe. It seems I was
wrong when I wrote that Selka’s