Genia and Shimon Pearl

My parents, Genia (Tova) and Shimon Perl, emigrated from Bialystok, Poland, in the 1930s. My father purchased land in Magdiel and worked as a farmer. My mother came here through fictitious marriage. The two married here and I, Sarah, was born at Hadassah Hospital in Tel Aviv. My mother, Genia, had trouble conceiving but wanted to commemorate her parents who were murdered in the Holocaust. Ten years have passed and finally, she managed to conceive despite the difficulties. She gave birth to a son in 1950 in Pardes Katz. She was told that the baby caught a cold and had died. She was not shown a body and was not given a death certificate.

Approximately two years had passed. In 1952, she returned to the same hospital to give birth. This time the staff in the hospital instructed my mother to leave him in their care: “You know what? The baby has a cold. Leave him, and come one day before the Bris (the circumcision).” I remember the excitement at home. The entire family was excited and prepared for the Bris ceremony. When my parents arrived to the hospital they were told that the child developed intestinal adhesions and died. Again, without a body and without a certificate. My mother remembered seeing him healthy after the birth. He had brown eyes. Unfortunately, they were separated and she was not allowed to see him.

I remember my mother, when I was a child. Her chest was hurting with too much milk. She was crying and crying, and was in a serious condition. My father told me to hide the knives so that mother will not do anything to herself. She did not leave the bed, just cried and cried, screaming that it was her fault.

Sarah Perl

I remember my mother, as a child. Her chest hurt from too much milk. She cried and cried and was in a serious condition. My father told me to hide the knives so the mother will not do anything to herself. She did not get out of bed and cried and cried. She shouted that it was her fault.