Editor: Dr Saul Issroff
Copyright © 2003 Saul Issroff, Mike Getz, SAfrica SIG
and Jewishgen Inc.
URL: http://www.jewishgen.org/SAfrica/family-histories/sanders/index-2.htm
Date: 22 July 2003

The background story

Europe

Joseph Lasowski, known to his friends as Josiel, came from the town of Krasnopol. At the age of twenty-eight, he married twenty-one year old Chaia Rivka Sejnenska of Suwalki, Poland in the year of 1846. The couple set up home in Suwalki, where their first child was born in 1848, a daughter they named Lena. The Lasowskis eventually had nine children, which was not unusual in those early days, when large families were quite common. Lena was my Great Grandmother and this is the story of how a family lost contact with one another through the great upheaval and movement of the Jewish population of Europe to the Four Corners of the globe. It is also my story, of how a family was re-discovered, thanks to the power of the Internet.
 
In the late 1860’s, life for Jews in Suwalki, in North Eastern Poland, could not have been too easy. It appears that the Lasowski family had a relative, living in the United States, in the town of Memphis, Tennessee, a certain Mrs. Jacob K. Franklin. Joseph and Chaia decided to send their eldest daughter, Lena to live with the Franklin’s in Memphis. One can only imagine what a heart rendering decision it must have been for them; to send their young daughter so far away from home, to a foreign land, with little hope of ever seeing her again. As was the custom at the time, the local fortuneteller was called in to give a prophecy.
 
It was foretold that Lena would make it safely across the ocean, but would be involved in an accident in the United States, which she would survive, unscathed. A young Jewish man would come to her rescue, who she would eventually marry. The couple would have many children and a happy life. So what more could loving parents want for their daughter?

America

Exactly as was prophesied, Lena arrived safely in New York where she took the train to Memphis. En route the train derailed at a bridge wash- away. Miraculously, Lena’s coach remained on the tracks. A young man, who was either at the scene of the accident or on the train itself, we are not sure, came to her rescue. His name was Wulf Sanders. Wulf, who originally came from Mitau, Courland, Latvia, was living in Memphis. And what do you know? …he was employed by a certain Mr. Jacob K. Franklin of 339 Vance Street, husband to Lena’s Aunt! One can easily imagine a romance developing between these two young people, living so far from their respective hometowns, but thrown together by fate! On the 10th of May 1870, Wulf Sanders married the young Lena Lasky. (an Americanization of her surname). The marriage ceremony was performed by the Reverent Chs Rawitzer of Memphis and witnessed by Jacob Franklin.

England

Three months later, on the 4th of August, 1870, at 2 Dorset Street, Spitalfields, London, Lena gave birth to her first child, a son they named Harry. On Harry’s birth certificate, Wulf’s occupation was given as a "traveler with jewelry". Why Wulf and Lena left America, so soon after their wedding, one can only speculate. My Grandmother said that her parents wanted to go back to visit and meet their parents, still living in Poland and Latvia. Maybe the "premature" birth of their first born had something to do with it? However, it appears that the family, at this stage, did not in fact return to Europe. Wulf heard from compatriots living in London, that the colony of Australia, offered great opportunities for young men like him. So he decided to leave his wife, Lena, in London and travel to this far off land, to see if indeed he could make a new life for his young family.

Australia

In the first quarter of 1871, Lena and her baby, Harry, joined Wulf in Melbourne, where the family settled for ten years. Here Lena gave birth to another five children. Wulf established a general store in the city and it seemed that Australia would become their permanent home country. Yet the story of Wulf and Lena Sanders was one of the "Wandering Jew": moving from one seemingly permanent home country to another, in the continuous search for security and financial independence. Meanwhile, Wulf’s father, Lazarus had died. His mother was not well and a decision was made that the family should sell up and leave Australia and return to Riga, Latvia, where Sarah Sanders, Wulf’s mother was living. Looking back from a modern day prospective, it seems to me that this was a crazy decision for the Sanders family to make. Did they not remember the anti-Semitism, the hardships and the corruption that was prevalent at the time in Latvia and Russia? Again, my Grandmother told me it was the "lack of Jewish life and culture" in Melbourne at time that influenced their decision.

Russia

En route, and on board ship in the Black Sea, Lena gave birth to a daughter, her seventh child, on the 15th November, 1881. Another child, a son named Max, was born in Riga on the 12th January, 1882. As I suspect, Wulf and his family did indeed find life back in Russia, very different and very uncomfortable, to what they had become accustomed to! It was decided to return to Australia, but this time, Wulf would also see what life was like in the Cape Colony.

South Africa

Wulf sailed from London on the Union Steamship "Danube," on the 3rd March, 1882, once again leaving his wife and children behind, to follow him later, once he found a permanent home. Twenty-five days later the "Danube" sailed into Table Bay, where Wulf disembarked at Cape Town docks. All one can say is that, like so many before and after him, the beautiful Cape worked its magic. Wulf fell in love with Cape Town. Six months later, Lena and her eight children arrived in Cape Town on the steamship, the Nubian, Sunday, 24th September, 1882. My Grandmother, who was seven years old at the time, remembered this day very well. She described her amazement at seeing the beauty of Table Mountain for the first time; the "Zulu chief" who was also on board and all the excitement of their arrival in Cape Town. "What! A Zulu chief?," I asked. Where was he coming from and what was he doing on her ship? I initially thought that dear Granny was merely embellishing her story. Yet many years later, researching the Cape Archives, I found the passsenger list for the "Nubian" for that day. Yes indeed, there it was: "His majesty, Chief Cetywayo," King of the Zulus, it was reported, had returned from England, where he had been taken after his capture by the British troops in Natal, to meet Queen Victoria! There was nothing wrong with dear Granny’s memory! After a short stay of two years in Cape Town, Wulf, Lena and the children moved to the Little Karroo town of Oudtshoorn, in the year of 1885, where the family finally settled. Lena eventually had twelve children, born in four different countries.

Contact lost:

The quest - to find the missing family

While Lena and Wulf and their now very large family, where settling down in Oudtshoorn, South Africa, her parents, Joseph and Chaia, who were still living in Suwalki, were anxious to get the rest of the children out of Poland and to the United States. It appears that five of the Lasowski children, Morris, Abe, Rose, Sarah and Samuel all made it to the US, where they all settled in the city of St Louis, Missouri, during the 1880’s The children must have sent for their parents and assisted in getting them a passage on the Cunard Line steamship, the "Gallia", which arrived via Liverpool, in New York on the 19th September, 1889. They were listed as: "Jassel Lasowsky, 70 years, peddler, Russian citizen, resident of Poland" and Chaye Lasowsky, 66 years, wife. Also listed was, "Samuel Lasowsky, 11 years, child".
 
Lena Sanders died of "senile dementia", on the 12th December, 1918. It is possible that after her death, contact was lost with her siblings in the US., as there is no further evidence of any correspondence or contact between the families. It would take another eighty-one years before the different branches of the Lasky/Lasowski families would reunite!

The Clues

With the development of the Internet, family research has been made so much more easier and quicker to follow up. Yet one needs a lot of luck, patience, and researching in the right places, in order to be successful in the "world of genealogy". I had one very big advantage. An inheritance of a suitcase of old family photographs. Although these photos had been in my possession for a number of years, it was only in July of 1999 that I decided to find out what had happened to and where were the siblings and their descendants of my late Great Grandmother, Lena Sanders, born Lasowski.
 
I had two clues. A photo of an elderly couple taken by a photographer in St Louis, Mo., in the 1890’s. I guessed that this couple had to be Lena’s parents, Joseph and Chaia or Rebecca as she was known. On Lena’s death certificate, her parent’s names are given as Joseph and Rebecca Lasky. Lena’s place of birth is given as "Suwalki, Poland". The other, a large family photo of a group of twenty people, taken in 1910, which was in my collection. On the back of this photo is written" "with compliments of your brother, Morris Lasky". At this point, I had absolutely no idea what the names of Lena’s siblings were. Again, I guessed, that this Morris Lasky had to be Lena’s brother. Now my grandmother always told me that he mother’s family had all settled in the United States, but she had no idea where they were living. The "Morris Lasky" photo, I presumed, was also taken in the US.

The Power of email

This is where the Internet came to my rescue! I found the web site of the St Louis Jewish Genealogical Society. I was hoping that, maybe, there was an outside chance, that there might still be a Lasky family living in St Louis, based on the photographer’s address. I had the parents names, the name of their ancestral town and the names of two of their children; that of my Great Grandmother, Lena Lasky and her brother, Morris. I emailed this information to the St Louis society and waited for a possible reply. Well, I certainly did not have to wait long! The very next day I received the following email:

Date: Monday, August 09, 1999 6:27 PM
Re: The Morris Lasky Family
 
I am forwarding your letter on to one of our members whose family also originated in Suwalki. Perhaps she can be of help to you.
 
Sylvia Jaffe.

I wondered if this "member" could possibly help me. Maybe? Well, the following day I "won the jackpot"! This is what I received:
 

Date: Tuesday, August 10, 1999 1:50AM
Re: The Morris Lasky Family
 
Dear Derrick,
Your message concerning the Lasky family was forwarded to me by Sylvia Jaffee, because of my relationship with the family. I am so excited because I believe we are related. My paternal grandmother was Sarah Lasky Goldberg. Her brother was Morris Lasky and her parents were Joseph and Becky Lasky. I know she had a sister and brother who moved to South Africa (there is a picture that one of my cousins has, of their Sarah’s sister’s husband with a sash across his chest). I have seen the picture that you were referring to of Morris with his 10 children and grandchildren(great picture). The family was named Lesovski? In Suwalk, Russia. Besides Morris and my Grandmother, there was at least another brother, Abe and a sister whose last name was Ellis. After Becky died in 1904, Joseph moved to New York, remarried and moved to Palestine. Please write again, because I am very anxious to learn about your family, and to help with any other information I may have.
Sincerely,
Bernice Goldberg Marcus.

All one can say to this is WOW! For an amateur genealogist like me, this was an amazing breakthrough in my search for the Lasky family.

Contact!

Letters were flying back and forth in cyberspace, family stories were swapped and then the "snail mail" arrived. Bernice had posted to me copies of photos, old and new, that she had in her collection. On opening her envelope, I got the shivers, when to my surprise, other than the "Morris Lasky family photo" that was mentioned earlier, she sent me, amongst others, two photographs that I ALSO had in my collection! Photos taken in the mid 1890’s, in Oudtshoorn, South Africa! One of my Grandmother’s sister, Minnie Sanders and one of my Grandmother, Bella, with her eldest sister, Annie Sanders. It was now quite obvious to me that the Sanders family of Oudtshoorn were at one time, and certainly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in contact with their American cousins, the Lasky family of St Louis. To think that on both sides of the Atlantic, these old photos survived over 100 years and remained in family hands. If I had any doubts before, then this new evidence certainly confirmed the fact that Bernice Marcus and I were blood cousins! After all these years, I was on the right track!

St Louis anecdotes

Bernice Marcus’s grandmother, Sarah Lasky, sister to my Great Grandmother, Lena Sanders, had married a tailor by the name of Charles Goldberg, in Suwaki, Poland. Sarah, who was apparently the youngest Lasky child, was born in 1867 and came to the US in 1889 with 2 children. Her husband, Charles preceded her by a year. He was a very orthodox man, would never work on any major or minor Jewish holiday, and with 11 children, their standard of living was not the best. Charles Goldberg died in 1917 during the influenza epidemic. Bernice’s father, Max, was the fourth child and was a salesman and buyer in the men’s clothing department of a department store. The Goldbergs had two children: two daughters. Shirley, who was 6 years older than Bernice, died of cancer at the young age of 54 years.
 
Bernice married Ray Marcus, an electrical engineer, who worked for the military and private sector until he went into private consulting. Bernice left college in the early 50’s, as she did not want to go into the social service fields. She worked for McDonnell Douglas-Boeing as a mathematician, until her first child was born. In her late 40’s, she decided to go back to college and got a degree in Business Administration with a major in Accounting. She then worked for a real estate developer for about 10 years. Bernice and Ray are now both retired.
 
Morris and Abe Lasky had a prosperous ice and coal yard and they lived next to it, adjacent to each other with their parents living with Morris. This was about 1900. About 1920, Harry Goldberg, Sarah Goldberg’s second child, went to work in New York for "Uncle Lasky", who owned a dept. store and was quite wealthy. "He rode in a chauffeured limo." Harry returned to St Louis after a few years, and it was later learned that the Uncle lost everything in the Depression during the 1930’s.
 
In the "Morris Lasky" picture of 1910, a baby is lying in Morris’s arms. I was informed this was Leo Lasky, whose daughter, Kay Diamant, together with her husband, own and personally run a kosher meat market in St Louis.

The Franklin connection

In between all this activity on the Internet, I was thrilled to discover another party researching the Lasky/ Franklin families of Poland. Lynn Franklin of Memphis was also trying to trace the roots of her family. Her great grandmother was a Pearl Lasky, the daughter of Judel and Leah Lasky, also from Suwalki! Pearl had 5 sisters, all of whom immigrated to the USA, to Memphis. Apparently Pearl had first cousins in Massachusetts and Chicago. Interestingly, I have in my collection of old family "photo cards" a 19th century photo of an unidentified young man taken by a Chicago photographer! To date we have not managed to identify this young man. A further coincidence: Pearl Lasky’s only daughter, Lily, married a man named Sam Franklin in 1928. Sam ran a dry goods store in Memphis. The couple were the grandparents of Lynn Franklin, who I was now in contact with. With the help of Lynn, I managed to obtain a copy of the "marriage bond document" signed by "W.L. Sanders" and "J.K. Franklin" in May, 1870, prior to my Great grandparents wedding.

Another branch discovered - The Israeli Lasowski’s

The power of the net continues! Up pops another email letter, this time from Culver City, California. Here is what was sent:
 

From: Margy & Burton Rockoff
Subject: Lasowski
 
Hi Derrick,
 
I was just cruising in the Jewishgen Family Finder under "Suwalki", and found you searching for Lasowski. My grandmother, Heichi Zeff Zuransky has a sister Edella Zeff married to Israel Lasowski. He was born in Suwalki in 1846 and died in Thorn, West Prussia in 1916. He was a chasen. Israel’s father was Joseph Schabbetai Lasowski,(son of Schmuel) probably born in 1820 in Suwalki. If any of this interests you, let me know, and I can give you more of the mishpocha.
 
Margy A. Rockoff.

How much more luckier can one get? Another branch of the Lasky/Lasowski family virtually dropped into my lap! The Israel Lasowski that Margy Rockoff mentioned, turned out to be my great grandmother’s eldest brother, who never left Europe.
 
Israel and Eydella Lasowski had a son named Herrman, who settled in Germany. Once again I checked out all my old family photos. A small photo had the inscription on the back, "H. Lasowski". Well, well, another piece of the "family puzzle" falls into shape! I was informed that Herrman who married in Germany, managed to escape just before World War 2, with the assistance of his son Dr Erich Lasowski, who was living in Palestine at the time. Herrman and his wife ended up in Argentina, where he died after the war, at the age of 81 years. His wife Olga, then came to Israel at Erich’s insistence and died there at the age of 88. Herrman’s sister, Sarah, along with her husband and all but two of their children all perished in the Holocaust.
 
Here is a transcript of a letter received by Margy Rockoff, back in 1979, from Erich Lasowski:

Dr E. LASOWSKI M.D.
 
Internal Diseases - X Rays Institute
Motzkin 17 Rav Kook Str
Haifa
Hours: 8-9, 4-5
Febr 19 1979
 
Dear Mushpacha Rockoff!
 
Your very interesting letter I received today and I am very glad to hear about the well-being of the whole family. I make use of this occasion to brush up my English. Honni soit qui mal pense!
 
The family Rockoff - as I feel - is family and let me begin with the essential facts: About my fore-fathers, there are very scanty information. The cause is during the centuries, the Jews were forced in form of progrom to leave their homes: naked, without some dokuments. The earliest information fore-father: Schabbtai Laski, born ca. 1830 - his last residency in Europe: Suwalki, Russia. With the beginning of progroms in Russia ca. 1890 - he emigrated to America and in my possession I have a foto from Ohio. I don’t know the circumstances that forced my great-great grandfather to the decision to go to Palestine - Jerusalem. We got 1906 from Jerusalem - chevra -kadisha - the post-card is in my possession - the bad news, that he was burried on the Mount of Olives and we found his grave after the six-days war there. We restored it and renewed the inscription.
 
This Schabbtai Laski had five children: two of them returned from USA to Europe, my grand-father and his brother Samuel. My grandfather, Israel Lasowski was cantor in Thorn - West Prussia, his wife Edella, nee Zeef. Maybe that my grandfather is your ancestor. This family had five children, my father, Herrman Lasowski was the 4 child. Grandfather died 1916, his wife 1923. Their graves in Germany. My father lived in Germany and 1937 was it necessary to get him out of the concentration camp. I managed here in Palestine to get for my parents a visa to South Amerika, where they arrived 1938. My father died 1959 in Buenes Aires, and 1960 I visited my mother in Buenes Aires, where I found her in a very desolate situation. Mother was 76 y.old. I took her home to Israel and she lived at my home untill her age 88. We were 4 children. Two of my brothers died of heart attack in their sleep, each one 57 y. old. My sister Kaete lives in Montivideo. Each one has children.
 
To myself: This year at Pesach I hope celebrate my 70th. 45 years in Israel, yet very active in my profession. Four children: one daughter and three sons, all between 30 - 40 years. Nine grandchildren. No complains at all at this investition. My wife - Hadassa - a semi retired nurse - visited last year her sister in Toronto and covered Canada from Toronto to Vancouver. All in all a normal family, not so badly socially situated but ... I have not to explain what is doing in the world. I for myself saw already as a beginning to think youngster, what is wrong with us Jews: thousands of years christien und muslims together persecution, chasing Jews around the globe: see my family in the last 100 years: Suwalki, Russia, Germany, South Amerika, Israel, always on the running, 5 times only with a small suitcase, only to save their lives running, running, and so was my innerst conviction born: that this has and must not happen again. The solution: an own strong Jewish state, independent with all the qualities of humanism, short: the zionist idea. And this is the first time, that the Gojim in their history of Jews-baiting have to think twice, to touch the Jews, unpunished. And they try it again and again: See Iran, PLO, Sadat, the fox-neo-nazism in Germany and your brother Billy Carter. And will it happen again? I fear: yes and the third world war is around the corner.
 
Of course, I myself forget the details of our relationship, I remember only vague your last visit here in Israel, so I would very grateful to you to freshen up my memory , about more details. Never mind, blood is thicker than oil, all the best to you all.
 
Erich - Elijahu

The errors in spelling and grammar make this letter even more real and emotional! Another letter was also sent to Margy:

Dr Lasowski
361 K. Mozkin - Haifa
Rav Kookstr 17
23 - 3 - 79
 
In your last letter you mentioned the S. African family: I remember to have seen in the family album of my father a picture from Boer-war with soldiers in full dress, father told me, between them are cousins: family Zanders, Outhorn near Capstadt, SA. Never hoert something about - and from them. Give me please some details about this family-branch. May be there are somebody living also in Israel.
 
To you all, the whole family our best wishes for the Pesach holidays And greetings, big and small, from the whole Lasowski - clan.
 
Erich Elijahu
Dr E. LASOWSKI M.D.

Quite amazing! The knowledge of cousins in South Africa by the name of "Zanders", but unable to make contact in those days. Bring on the Internet! Now armed with this information, I emailed my branch of family who were also living in Israel.
 
Lena Sanders’s great granddaughter, Anne Biderman lives in Jerusalem. With the new information of another Lasowski branch living in Israel, Anne set out to track them down. She managed to find and contact Yoram Lasowski who was living in Kiryat Haim. He told Anne that his sister, Ziva Yuvnai "was in to all the family business". Anne was told that Yoram had a daughter, living in Toronto, Canada, working at the Israeli consulate. Ziva also told Anne to get in touch with Yisrael Lasowski, who would have the telephone number of Itzick Lasowski, who apparently lives in Jerusalem. Itzick had a photograph of the tombstone and grave of Joseph Lasowski, who was buried on the Mount of Olives, in East Jerusalem! Ziva also told Anne about a Uri Lasowski who lives in Kibbutz Tzova which is near Jerusalem. Anne writes: "I will try and contact him. But see what a host of people you have dug up?"

The Israeli connection heats up!

On the 26th January, 2000, I received the following email from Anne Biderman:

"At last I’ve tracked down Itzick Lasowski….He has promised to try and find out the location of the grave, as he has connections with the Ministry of Religion. I believe he is religious - we didn’t discuss it, but some of his closer relatives(after all I am a relative also, aren’t I?) told me that he is. As soon as I have the information I will get one or both of my sons to come with me to the Mt. of Olives. Patience!! I know you have lots of it. When I call up the Lasowski’s they’re amazed to hear the story - I should say our story. They can’t believe it….

Found! - The Lasowski tombstone

A further email was received from Anne Biderman on the 25th May, 2000. She wrote that she had eventually met with Itzick Lasowski and had made the trip to the gravesite. She describes the events as follows:

"At last this morning Itzick Lasowski and I met his contact in the Chevra Kadisha and we went out to Mt. of Olives. Itzick is a descendant of Israel, the oldest son of Josef Lasowski(Lasky) and Chaia Rivka. His family managed to leave Nazi Germany in 1939, on the last boat leaving, just before the outbreak of WWll. They lived in Hamburg. Although they had visas to Palestine, the boat was sailing to South America - Paraguay I think, but got off at Uruguay where his mother had relatives. Itzick made aliyah to Israel in 1949. He has four sons, the youngest is in the army, a medic in the paratroops. The oldest is 36. He is the person who has been working in the same offices as my youngest son, Daniel, in a different branch, for many years!
 
We met his contact who took us out to the Mt. of Olives, to the oldest section of the cemetery - I think. Many of the graves have been broken or the names erased. I took photos and a worker there took a photo of the three of us. Anyway the gentleman from the Chevra Kadisha asked if we’d like to have the tombstone renovated and quoted a reasonable price and I agreed. One can read the name, but not very well, and apparently Dr Erich Lasowski, who did the first renovation after 1967 added on the side an epitaph to his aunt who perished in the Holocaust….."

Yoran and Haya Lasowki, as I know knew, have a daughter, Yael who lives in Toronto. She married a Russian Jew by the name of Vladimir Kravetz.. Yael sent me copies of photographs that her family in Israel, after some searching, managed to find. I was very excited on receiving her mail and opening up the packet. She had sent me photos of Israel Lasowski, his son Herrman and his wife, his grandson Erich Lasowski and wife Hadassah, but the most amazing photo was that of Joseph Lasowski, the founder of the clan. I had exactly the same photo that I inherited from my late grandmother! Once again, the family connection was proved and confirmed. Israel Lasowski and his descendants were indeed our cousins!

More anecdotes - The Ellis family

Rose Lasky (Lasowski), born 18 September 1851, one of my great grandmother’s sisters, also emigrated to the USA. She apparently married a Jankiel Doneygier on the 5th October, 1878, whilst still living in Suwalki, Poland. Jankiel’s name is stated as "Leizor" on the wedding papers. Whether he died or they got divorced, we are not sure, but Rose arrived in the US as a single woman, where she married Isaac Helman. They had two sons, Abe born 1890 in New York and Sender (known as Alexander) who was also born in New York, in 1892. Isaac’s grandson, Joe Ellis recalls the family story:

"Our paternal grandmother lived with us until she died, which I believe was in 1938. She had no children by the prior marriage. "Reizal" is the way I heard her name pronounced…."Bubby", as we referred to her, had a cousin named Chasza Raechel, whom I assume was related on the Lasky side.
 
A question you may have is, "How did we come by the surname of Ellis?" This is the way I understand it happened: Our grandparents apparently didn’t get along too well together. She was extremely religious and he was a free spirit. She was uneducated, and he was educated, being a "safer torah" (torah scribe) and one who could read and write many languages. At the prodding of some of her relatives in New York who convinced her that, because she had saved some money from her little candy store and he might take it from her, she should move to St Louis where her brother Morris Lasky resided. Furthermore, to confuse her husband and prevent him from following her, she should change her name. (Why Ellis?" One can only guess she thought of the site where she landed when she came to this country.)
 
Our mother once tried to count the number of first cousins our father had. She got to the unbelievable number of 81, then added that there were some living in South Africa, but she didn’t know who they were or how many there were."

"It’s pretty amazing to contemplate that we have a great grandfather buried in Israel. But then it’s something for me to realize I have cousins living in South Africa!"

Jim Ellis is married to Patricia. They have four sons, Barry, Steve, Jeffrey and Robert, who are all married. An interesting article appeared in the St Louis Post-Dispatch, reporting Jim’s retirement and subsequent closure of his pharmacy. The head- lines read as follows:

"Clayton’s Ellis Pharmacy, a neighborhood institution, is gone but not forgotten. After more than four decades of helping families, Jim and Pat Ellis decided it was time to take a break" "We had people who cried when they found out. They don’t want to go to a Walgreens or a Schnucks and have to wait in line and not see the same person when they come back".
 
"Jim Ellis made his way through St Louis College of Pharmacy by simultaneously working jobs at three different pharmacies. He married Pat in 1954 and started work at Klein Pharmacy in 1958 after serving in the Army.
 
When Carl Klein fell ill, he asked Jim Ellis whether he and Pat would be interested in buying the store. They were honored by the offer, bought the pharmacy on Delmar Boulevard and remained there until they lost their lease. They moved to the Clayton Road location in 1977 and renamed the store Ellis Pharmacy."

More St Louis cousins!

As a result of Bernice Marcus informing all her family in St Louis about her discovery of an "African Lasky" cousin, more email arrived addressed to me, from other "St Louis cousins". September, 3, 1999, Patty Gold contacted me. She wrote that her mother’s name is Sylvia Alper, who in turn is the granddaughter of the late Morris Lasky. Sylvia who is now 81 years, has a sister, Joy Saffren, living near Washington, DC.
 
Patty is married to Norman Gold. They have three children: Michael, 35, who lives in Denver, is an executive with Quest Communications and is married to Jill; Andrew, 33, who lives in Dusseldorf, Germany, is an attorney and is married to Elana, a Russian immigrant who is the marketing director of Pizza Hut, Germany; and a daughter, Debbie, 29, who lives in Davenport, Iowa, is a graphic designer and is married to Rob Gold (no relative) who is the marketing director at Lee Enterprises, owners of TV stations.
 
Now here is an amazing coincidence: Patty’s son Andrew and his wife Elana were in Cape Town, South Africa, Christmas, 1998, partly on business and partly vacation! At that time I had not as yet found the "missing" Laskys.

Planning a reunion

An invitation from my brother in law, Anthony Katzef, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, to attend his daughter’s batmitzvah on the 7th July, 2000, gave me the idea that this would be a great opportunity to meet the "Lasky cousins" in the US. I emailed Bernice to tell her about our intended visit. This drew the response:

"We’re ready and waiting….I had lunch with cousins, Charlotte, Sylvia and Marilyn. I told them that I wanted to have an open house for you and all the Laskys that we can locate, and are interested. They are baking cookies already"…."There’s more!! I just spoke to Yael (Kravetz) in Toronto to invite her to St. Louis. I don’t believe she will be able to make it, but the invitation is made. Whew! That’s it for now. I’m eager to meet this short, bald, hard-of-hearing, lame guy. I’ll be the one in black with the pointed hat and no teeth.
Fondly,
Bernice"

As the moment drew near for our trip to the US, the excitement mounted. Neither my wife, Jeanette nor I, had been to the USA before. The nearest we came, was a tour of South America in 1976. This was to be a momentous visit. Jeanette would be seeing her brother, who immigrated to Atlanta, Georgia from South Africa, some years previously; and together, we would be travelling to St Louis, to meet our long lost cousins. What would they be like? How would we get on with them? Would they feel like family, having never known them? What type of reception would we get? All these questions and more, went through my head.

Arrival in the USA!

After spending ten days in Atlanta, attending a batmitzvah, and a four-day visit to Disney World, Orlando, Jeanette and I flew to St Louis on Friday afternoon, the 14th July, 2000. We arrived at 1.25 p.m., local time, to be met at the gate by Bernice and her eldest daughter, Joan Gold. Bernice recognized Jeanette immediately from photos we had sent her. I felt very emotional as she gave me a welcome kiss and a hug. By the time we got our luggage and made our way back to Bernice’s home my mind was reeling. What would our forefathers have thought about this incredible "re-discovery of family"? Arriving at the Marcus home in Spoede Woods, introductions were made to Bernice’s husband, Ray, her younger daughter, Karen Feld and some of the grandchildren, Kevin and Jamie. Another cousin arrived to greet us; Patty Gold, a descendant of Morris Lasky, and on top of it, whose brother in law, Bob Gold, was married to Bernice’s daughter, Joan. By the time we sat down and had tea, I felt that we had always known the family. We had truly bonded!
 
The Shabbat meal held in our honour, was lovely. Patty Gold, her husband, Norman, Joan and Bob Gold and their children Jamie and Steve, Karen Feld and her son Kevin all attended the supper at Bernice and Ray’s home. What a unique shabbas meal this was! Hearing the Kiddush and enjoying the wonderful meal that was prepared for us all, was a moving experience for me! So many miles away from our home in South Africa and so many years after Lena Lasowski ventured out from Suwalki, back in 1868, the Lasky family from different continents, where now enjoying a Shabbat meal together! The Sunday family gathering was still in front of us. How would we cope, meeting so many more family members?
 
Bernice posted invitations to all the Lasky family she could find, living in the St Louis area. This is what the invite said:

Here come the Laskys!

The Sunday family gathering

On a hot summer’s afternoon, Sunday, 16th July, 2000, approximately 130 years after the first Lasowski child had left Poland, a gathering and reunion of most of the "American" and "South African" descendants eventually took place at the home of Bernice and Ray Marcus, in Spoede, St. Louis, USA. And the family arrived: all shapes, sizes and ages! Sixty-two members came to see their African cousins. Amazingly it was not only the meeting of their distant cousins from Cape Town, but what took many members by surprise was the discovery of cousins, living in the St Louis area, that some had no idea that they were related! Reva Abelson arrived, a wonderful person of character, who after giving me a great big hug, told me that her parents always told her that there were cousins living in South Africa, but had no idea who and where they lived. As family arrived, nametags were given to wear, so one could at least identify who was who!
 
Stories were swapped, photos where inspected and studied, other personal family collections were shown around. A wonderful buffet tea was enjoyed by all. A phone call from California: Joe Ellis on the line, calling to say hello and to say how sorry he was, not being able to be with us in person. Questions were asked; what was living in South Africa like? How were we related? Could we come back again to visit? How did we find out about the St Louis family? Etc, etc. So many people, so many stories, so much to learn; an impossible task for one afternoon. Some family members I got to know more intimately than others. In all the excitement, my dear wife, Jeanette was at times left out and not introduced. Nobody’s fault, there was just too much happening at the same time. Reva Abelson, thinking that Jeanette was just one of the St Louis cousins, somehow, through a sixth sense, found her way to Jeanette and discovered that she was my wife!
 
Photograph session time! We were all summoned outside to the garden. Various branches were asked to stand together for group photos. "Now all the families, together please!" Another one of many photographs taken. At one stage there were a host of cameras clicking away at us. I felt like a celebrity! In which direction to look? So confusing and so incredible - all at the same time! This was surely the most amazing and momentous family gathering that I would ever witness!
 
Eventually, the afternoon came to an end. All the various cousins started to make their way back to their homes, filled with memories of a wonderful family event: the reuniting of the Lasky/Lasowski clan. Promises of keeping in touch, hopes of seeing one another again, were all religiously made; some to be kept and others simply to be forgotten. However, one thing struck me as being very true: in spite of time, space and distance, blood is definitely thicker than water! For me, the discovery and meeting of these wonderful people, my distant cousins, will always be a golden memory!

Appendices:

1. Lazarus Sanders, letter, 5th December 1894
2. Wulf Sanders, Form of Application for Immigrants under Government Notice No. 155 of 1881.