![]() In that moment, I knew Grandpa had led me to that portrait. Smiling, his wispy white hair ringing his head like a halo, his piercing blue eyes fixed on the viewer. Grandpa looked just the way I remember him last. His spirit lives on to remind others that thriving after unspeakable tragedy is possible. Tears filled my eyes as I realized that Grandpa Jacques is more than just an inspiration to me. Read More: He Started to Give Thanks After This Traumatic Experience There, on the web page, were two paintings of Grandpa: One, of him smiling boldly as a boy wearing a death camp uniform, and one of him in his eighties. I scrolled through her beautiful paintings until two side-by-side portraits stopped me in my tracks. She’d found solace in painting portraits that showcased the strength of the human spirit. The artist herself, who goes by the name Lydia Emily, was a survivor of violent assaults, debilitating disease, and countless hardships. One of them was a link to a story on Huffington Post, a spotlight of an artist’s work-painted portraits of survivors. Was he truly at peace? I typed in “Jacques Ribons photo” into the search bar. Not with his kids, and definitely not with us grandkids, though it was clear that the trauma followed him his whole life.Īs I researched the story, I couldn’t help but think about my Grandpa Jacques. But he never discussed the horrors he went through in the camps. Grandpa’s success story was the backdrop of our childhood. Read More: How to Interpret Dreams About Deceased Loved Ones ![]() ![]() Those watches signified new opportunities. That uncle later sponsored Grandpa, making it possible for him to come to America. before the war, bought in New York City with their first paychecks. Over our mantle hung matching gold and silver pocket watches-the first thing Grandpa’s uncle and his friend, who had immigrated to the U.S. Framed in our kitchen were the menus that Grandpa and Uncle Bernard saved from the ship they took to the U.S. I grew up in Los Angeles in a home that showed signs of Grandpa’s new beginnings. Grandpa eventually settled in California, where he married and raised five children. There’s a photo of him from that day-gaunt, but smiling, still wearing the Nazi-issued striped death camp pajamas and beret-that he brought with him when he immigrated to the U.S. After he was liberated, the first thing he did when he was strong enough to leave the camp was to travel to the neighboring town and have his photo taken-to show that he was a person, and a survivor. ![]() He later survived a 200-mile death march through Eastern Europe in January, wearing nothing but pajamas and without proper shoes. Grandpa and his brother, Bernard, were the only two to make it past the entry gates alive. At 14, Grandpa was sent to the Blechhammer death camp along with his grandmother, mother, and younger brother and sister. ![]()
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