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Souvenirs of Chana Rifka Elner (Lehrer)

The photographs, documents and gloves belong to the collection of the donor Ewa Bocewicz's memorabilia from her family on her mother's side, Chana Rifka Elner (née Lehrer). Ewa Bocewicz learned of her Jewish ancestry from her mother when the latter was dying in 1966. Chana Rifka then also told her daughter about her first husband Mordechaj and her son Chisza, with whom she lost contact during the war. She asked her daughter to find her brother, Chisha. She failed to make contact with him. | Ewa Bocewicz found Jan Standio, whose parents hid Chana Rifka Elner (née Lehrer) in Dolina (now in Ukraine) during the war. Of the Lehrer family, she was the only one to survive the Holocaust. One of the few family heirlooms that Chana Rifka managed to preserve (perhaps the only one) was the wedding gloves of her mother, Henie Lehrer (née Mühlard). These delicate, openwork gloves were found by her daughter in her home after her death. | The photographs were given to Ewa Bocewicz during a meeting with Pola, Mordechaj's second wife, whom the man had married in Israel. The documents (copies of her mother's birth certificate and her grandmother's marriage certificate) were obtained by the donor from the Registry Office in 2004 | Chana Rifka Elner before the war married Mordechaj Markus Elner and had a son Chisha (Chisha-Zwi; b. 1932 or 1933). The family lived in the village of Dolina in present-day Ukraine. During the war, Chana Rifka separated from her husband and son and never met them again. After the war, Mordechaj and his son emigrated to Israel. Chana Rifka left for Lower Silesia (Dolina became part of the USSR). | We know that Chana Rifka was in some camp during the war, from which she escaped. She was shot with a rifle during her escape, what left permanent scars. After escaping, she first hid in the vicarage. She later ended up with a family (name unknown) who robbed her. She was then taken care of by the Dzierżanowski sisters (whose surname she adopted). In 1944 she was taken care of by the Standio family, then the Leśkiewicz family. In 1948, Chana Rifka married the donor's father. | The interview with Ewa Bocewicz was included in the book “Przynoszę rzecz, przynoszę historię. Rozmowy z darczyńcami”, ed. J. Pawlak, P. Kaniecki, Warsaw 2016, pp. 74-85.

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