From the FACES OF DYNÓW series:

Sima
oil on canvas, 48 x 42 inches

Sima’s mother Frymt Neger, and Frymt’s sister Feiga escaped the Nazi invasion in Dynów. The sisters’ mother, Beila had a broken foot and could not run. She insisted that her daughters take her jewelry, as they would need it for bribes and to exchange for food. Frymt and Feiga escaped to the Russian side divided by the San River, and hid in the forest. After the war, from a DP camp, they returned to Dynów, and their family was gone. Sima recounted her mother and aunt’s story to me when I met her in Israel in 2015. At the time, her mother Frymt was still alive, in her nineties and living in a nursing home. She passed away later that year. Over the years, Frymt told Sima her detailed story of escape, survival and renewal of life in Israel.