Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/03/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Nathan, this is fantastic! What a story, and as has been mentioned, the film is a serious production. Jean Reno is a very famous actor. I wish you and your family and Joseph a wonderful time at the opening in Paris. It's very exciting and a story that can't be told enough. Cheers, Craig NO ARCHIVE On Mar 5, 2010, at 10:30 AM, lug-request at leica-users.org wrote: >> >> Around 1920 my granduncle Shmuel (Samuel) Wajsman emigrated from >> Lublin in Poland to Paris in search of a better life. There, he and >> his wife did indeed build a new life, under the name Weismann, >> courtesy a French immigration official who had trouble with our >> Polish-Yiddish name. In Paris, they had 3 children, two girls and a >> boy, the latter named Joseph and born in 1931. >> >> In 1942 the Vichy government rounded up French Jews at the behest of >> the Germans. Most ended up in the gas chambers at Auschwitz, >> including Joseph's entire family. But not Joseph. He escaped the >> French holding camp together with another boy. They made their way >> back to Paris only to find empty apartments, and parted company >> there. Joseph eventually was whisked off to a village in the Loire >> Valley where he was taken in by the villagers and pretended to be >> just another French village boy. >> >> After the war, Joseph settled in Le Mans and became an apprentice in >> a furniture shop. He later took over that shop and built a >> successful business on that basis. For the first 10 years or so >> after 1945 he was unaware that any part of his family in Poland had >> survived the war. He assumed that everyone had met the same terrible >> fate as his parents and sisters, and anyway he had never had any >> contact with his Polish family as a child. Then, one day in 1957 or >> 58, my father "found" him. How it happened is another story. But it >> did happen, and Joseph discovered that he was not alone in the world >> as he thought. Since then he has been incredibly devoted to the >> whole family. He attends all family gatherings and major events, >> whether in Europe, the US or Israel. >> >> Since he retired, Joseph has devoted much of his life and energy to >> telling the story to schools, civic groups etc. around France. He is >> usually one of the people who gives a little speech at the annual >> 8th May celebration in front of the prefecture in Le Mans. During >> the past couple of years he has been collaborating with the director >> and screenwriter of a feature film about his life: >> >> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1382725/ >> >> It may not be a Hollywood blockbuster, but it is a substantial film >> with some well-known actors. For Joseph, who has strived so much to >> tell the story, this is of major importance--this film will be seen >> by a 100 times more people than he has reached so far with his >> message of "never again". >> >> And now the big moment has arrived. The film will be released in the >> Francophone world on Wednesday, and on Monday evening there is the >> "official" avant-premiere organized by Gaumont on Champs-Elys?es. We >> will be there together with our French family, to celebrate this big >> event on our family's history. >> >> Over the years, I have shown many pictures of Joseph here on the >> LUG, for example: >> http://www.nathanfoto.com/paw/20.jpg >> http://www.nathanfoto.com/L2002_39_3.jpg >> http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws/uploads/2008/32alt2.jpg >> (the last one at the Holocaust memorial in Berlin in the summer of >> 2008) >> >> This is all a long way of saying that I am off to Paris on Saturday-- >> besides the film, I want to take my daughter to the Louvre and I >> want to visit the graves of two very different musical geniuses at >> the P?re Lachaise cemetery, Chopin and Jim Morrison. And, if the >> weather permits, to violate French laws and take some people >> pictures in the Jardin du Luxembourg and other similar spots. >> >> >> Nathan >> >> Nathan Wajsman >> Alicante, Spain >> http://www.frozenlight.eu >> http://www.greatpix.eu >> http://www.nathanfoto.com >> >> Books: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/search?search=wajsman&x=0&y=0 >> PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws >> Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog >> >