Resilience and Silence
From turning over each photograph, to noticing inconsistencies, the surprising facts that emerged contradicted my assumptions. My discoveries showed through the cracks in my ‘field of inquiry’ (St. Pierre, 2018). As I entered into the real history of Paulina’s siblings I entered into a story of resilience in the face of hardships. Yael Goffman had information about Norbert and wrote:
"למד הנדסה בגרמניה, שם התחתן. ללא ילדים. חזר לרומניה, היתה לו חנות סחורות ברזל": Norbert studied engineering in Germany, where he then married. Norbert did not have any children. He returned to Romania where he had a hardware store. (Y.Goffman, personal communication, April 2021)
Two of the Weisman siblings immigrated to Israel—Speranza and Rebecca. Benedictina and Bernard’s children also ended up in Israel. When I sat with Bernard’s granddaughters, Rachel and Chanah (who Danny refers to affectionately as “Chanahle” which means “little Chanah” a sweet endearment in Yiddish) and Rachel’s husband Nechemiah, I listened to them reminiscing about our family. Rachel is named after her grandmother Rochelle, or Reisel. Bernard and Rochelle stayed in Romania, and their son Traian Weisman immigrated to Israel. There is a photo of Bernard and Rochelle, and the writing on the back was sent to my great-grandparents and is signed with Rochelle’s Yiddish name-- Reisel.
When I sent my cousin Rachel photographs the graves of Iosef Weisman, and of Rochelle Weisman from the cemetery in Piatra Neamt. Rachel expressed her gratitude to me. This is a way of re-creating memory, of confirming the real existence of our family in the place that they lived for centuries; the place where the next generations were forced to flee. Rochelle Weisman passed away in 1942 in Piatra Neamt. We don’t know any more of her circumstances. There are many absent stories.
When I spoke with my cousins, Rachel and Danny, my understanding was that their parents did not directly share their stories of survival during the Second World War. Perhaps they thought to protect their children from stress, from trauma, or found it too difficult to share. We know now, that the fear is always transmitted, rather spoken or not, and so it is important to share, and to talk about difficult issues to interrupt the thread of anxiety. I imagine, perhaps, that my relatives wished to protect their children. In the same way, the thread of fear passes through the generations. This exhibit is a way of overcoming silence.