Bella Shatzkin

Beila had several brothers and sisters; Tzadok, Rachel, Manya (Malka), and at least one other brother, besides their parents. It was hard for her to leave all of them and come to America. I learned much of this from reading their letters.

From what my mother told me, her Uncle Tzadok was married and had a family, and he was a pharmacist. He was successful and had a drug store with a beautiful plate glass window. In 1917 the Russian Revolution occurred and the Communists came to power when they overthrew the Tzar. After a while, some men came and removed the window from Tzadok's store. He protested and said "What are you doing? That's my window, and this is my shop." They said "No. It belongs to the People." They arrested him, and sent him and his family to Siberia.

Fast forward to the end of WWII. My Bubby Beila desperately tried to find her family members. Most of them had been wiped out by the Nazis. She finally heard from Tzadok. Lucky (?) for him, he and his family had been banished to Siberia, so they managed to survive. They made their way back to Grodna, but found no Jews were left. There was nothing there. My grandmother was beside herself with grief, and never got over it. She had always wanted to go back and join her family.

-Barbara Kandelman, 2006

Anne Graff told her daughters that her mother Bella Shatzkin spoke Yiddish, but wrote in Russian. That was how she was educated, but she always said her family was from Poland. Grodna was at one time part of Poland, Russia, or Belarus.

Our maternal grandmother [Beila Shatzkin] was privileged to go to school and learn Russian. - Barbara Kandelman (Graff)