PreWar Years

Grandmother's Death from Typhus

Naftali's mother's mother, Baila Pacher, died during a typhus epidemic in her hometown.  She was a member of the women's chevra kadisha, the volunteer organization charged with preparing women for burial.  Everyone knew that people who died of typhus were contagious and therefore, it was hard to find volunteers to prepare them for burial.  Baila took the risk and succumbed to the disease.

Saving the Kittens

The Laks family had a cat in order to keep down the mouse population.  One day, the cat gave birth to a bunch of kittens.  Naftali's mother put the kittens in a sack with a stone and told Naftali to throw the sack into the river to drown them.  Naftali could not bear to kill the kittens.  Despite his shyness, he went from one house to another until he found a home for each kitten.

Gypsies stealing the Goose

Rivka had cooked a goose and left it in pot outdoors to cool.   Two gypsies ran off with the pot.  Rivka was very unhappy, not so much about losing the goose as about losing the pot.  Naftali rashly pursued the thieves.  At some point, one gypsy asked the other to pass the knife over.  Naftali assumed they were bluffing.  He was able to catch up and grab the pot, returning it triumphantly to his very grateful mother.  Naftali saw this incident as a rare occasion that he was able to show his value to his family.

Naftali in a Fight

Naftali, as a very old man, was telling us during a physical therapy session how you have to make sure to breathe and to keep your eyes open, even when you're excited.  The consequences of closing your eyes is that you can get carried away and not know what you are doing.  And he cited this example.

One day, Naftali went to fill a pail at the pump on the street near his house.  A Polish boy came over and started bothering him.  Naftali hit him on the face and knocked out one or two teeth.  The boy and his father were very upset and could have taken revenge.  Fortunately, the Germans arrested the father and sent the son away to work before they could harm him.

Helping Uncle Avraham

Naftali's aunt Miriam lived close by.  Her husband, Avraham, was blind.  Every Friday, Miriam needed to be away on business to support the family.  Naftali was given the job of helping his uncle, lighting the fire and cleaning the chamber pot, a job which he hated.  They offered him candy but he was too bashful to accept.  Uncle Avraham told Naftali that when he goes into the Next World, he will make sure to do him a favor one day.  This promise helped sustain during the difficult times during the War.  Moreover, when Naftali would repeat the story, he would tell us that he had many cousins on both sides named Naftali, since both grandparents had the name.  He was the only Naftali who survived, even though he was not the strongest.