Blog Post

Trust Yourself! An inspiring story of my grandma.

Michal Guelfand • March 16, 2021

You are stronger than you think you are. Always trust yourself!

Today, I would like to encourage you to Trust yourself!

In a week from now it will be one year to the passing of my grandmother, Ella.

I would like to dedicate this blog post to her, with the intent to inspire you with her story.

My grandma was born in Poland in 1917 at the end of World War I.
Being the youngest of 6 brothers and sisters, her parents did not have the money to keep sending her to school.
So, she started financing herself by giving private lessons in Polish, and payed her bookkeeping studies.

At 22 years old, in 1939, World War II began.

As the German Nazis occupied Poland, she fled to Russia.

Think about it: Ella, a young Jewish lady, during world wall II, taking a courageous decision to leave her family, and all that is familiar in her life, to the unknown, because the destiny in staying in place would very likely mean a death sentence. She escapes to another country, with no language and no one she knows. Failing is not an option for her. She knows she can only trust herself.

Following a random chat with a woman in the street, she is encouraged to go to a job interview as a bookkeeper. The manager asks her if she knows Russian. “No”, she says. “but I know numbers”. Start working tomorrow! he tells her. Ella is now the bookkeeper of this coal mine business. Once a month she walks over 6miles to the bank, collecting salaries for workers, sometimes in the cold of winter. No one knows she’s Jewish. They trust her.

In a night school for Russian, she meets my grandpa, Isaak, a young Polish Jew who also fled to Russia. When my mom is three-month-old, he is called to serve the Polish army in Russia. Ella is left with a baby for another year and a half without much knowing of his destiny. The manager arranges her a nanny(!!) so she returns to work. As the Nazis keep coming closer and closer, the workers, and my grandma keep moving north.

When the war is over, my grandparents return to Poland, only to realize my grandma's two older sisters, who remained in Poland with their families, as well as her father who did not flee, were murdered by the Nazis.

The Polish government denied their Polish citizenship, and their apartment was taken by the Polish authorities.
Along with my grandparents' families, over 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust in European countries. Over 60% of their population pre-war.

They continue their journey as refugees, going through Austria, France, and landed in Argentina for a year. When my mom was 5 years old, they sailed for 2 months to their last destination, and arrived safely in the newly established State of Israel. Here, she will cope with more challenges.

While my grandma couldn’t control life events, she took proactive steps to control her life as much as she could. She quickly adapted to uncertainties in life, and studied the local languages wherever she went. She was a hard worker, independent woman with integrity and perseverance. She trusted herself to cope with whatever cards she was dealt with.

My grandma died at almost 103 years old, in good health, while sitting on her couch watching TV.

She was survived by two daughters, 6 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today, we may be living in a different era. But in our life's journey, each one of us will face many unknows and uncertainties.
Many of which we can not control.

But if you find yourself telling yourself: “I can’t do it”, or “I can’t deal with it”, think of people like my grandma, and know, that
you are stronger than you think you are!

Trust yourself to cope with whatever challenge you’re facing, whether at work, in your family, with your health.
Tell yourself to stop that inner voice and replace it with an empowering statement:

I trust myself to cope with life!
I can do it!
I will do it!

I hope this story inspires you.

and I would love to hear your inspiring story.

With Much Love & Gratitude,

Michelle

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