BRANDLA'S STORY
Kupfersztych from Ozarow
Chil Jankiel Kupfersztych, born around 1910 - 1916, was from Ozarow, where according to the Ozarow Yizkor book, he lived in ulica Kolejowa (Wyszmontowska) beside the windmill. Chil Jankiel had a halfbrother, name forgotten, who emigrated to Canada before World War Two.

Kaufman from the village Sedziejowice near Chmielnik
Probably the Kaufman family was the only Jewish family in this village. Michael Kaufman had a big farm where many of the local Poles worked. He was a well known and well liked person. Before the war, some groups of Jewish young persons training to go to Eretz Israel worked at his farm as part of their preparations ( Hachsharah). Michael and Sara Sala's daughter Posla Pola was probably born around 1916. Their other children were named Jakub, Szymon and Bella., and these three survived the Holocaust.

The Ksorzer family from Nowy Korczyn and Lodz
The maternal grandmother Sara Ksorzer married Kaufman was probably born around 1884 in Nowy Korczyn, the daughter of Saul and Friedel Ksorzer. Her siblings were named Mania married Blumenfrucht, born ca 1880, Noach Ksorzer, born around 1882, Aron Ksorzer, born around 1884, Moshe Ksorzer born 1888., Mordechaj Ksorzer born around 1890. Most of the siblings lived in Lodz are were murdered with their families during Holocaust.

The children of Posla Pola Paula Kaufman and Chil Jankiel Kupfersztych.
After Posla Pola Paula and Chil Jankiel got married (1937 or 1938) they first seem to have settled in Ozarow where their daughter Brandla was born in April 1939.

Then the Second World War broke out in September 1939. According to one testimony, Posla Pola Paula and Chil Jankiel first went to Sedziejowice near Chmielnik where the Kaufman family lived. Later they were on the run, trying to act as Polish peasants. Pola, who spoke Polish very well could ride horses and knew the area well, certainly had the skills to pretend she was a Polish farmer.

Sometime between March and June 1941 Pola gave birth to a little boy. This could have happened in Chmielnik, Ozarow or most probably in the Sedziejowice area. They called the son Arie, but used his nickname Lolush or Lolek..

According to one source the family escaped from the ghetto in Ozarow in 1942 and managed to get to Warszawa where they gave the two children to a Polish woman. It does seem more likely the Polish woman lived in the Chmielnik area. Could her family name have been Podlesna?

Assumably some time later when Polish women were rounded up by the Germans for forced labor in Germany, Lolush was given to another childless Polish woman, as women with young children were allowed to stay in Poland with their children

The fate of the grandparents Kaufman in Siedjowice
A Polish friend of the Kaufman's had helped Michael and Sara hide in a cellar on their farm during the war. Unfortunately the Germans, who had taken over the Kaufman farm, used this cellar for storing their ammunition. While retreating towards the end of the war, the Germans blew up their ammunition. As far as the Polish friend knew, Michael and Sara Kaufman were killed in that explosion.

The fate of Posla Pola Paula and Chil Jankiel Kupfersztych at the end of the war
According to what the family has been told, as the war was coming to an end, the parents went to the Polish woman to retrieve their children. When she was not at home, they then went to the market in Chmielnik to look for her. Again, according to what the family has been told, the parents were shot by local Poles in the market. Chil Jankiel died instantly. Pola was taken away and never seen again.

The fate of Brandla Kupfersztych after the war
Brandla was later located by her uncle Jakub Kaufman and brough to the Zionist Children's Home of Koordinacja in Lodz. From here she was brought with the other children through Germany and France on Aliyah Beth till she arrived in Eretz Israel in 1947. Here a cousin of her father/mother Natan XX, stepped in as a loving foster family for Brandla.

Brandla's big dream
What happened to Brandla's baby brother Arie Lolush?
Did he survive?
Did he survive in Warszawa or in the Chmielnik area?
If so, did the woman who saved him know enough about his background to tell him who he was and how he had come to her?
Could it be that Brandla's brother is alive in Poland, not knowing that he is Jewish and that his sister lives in Canada?
Will Brandla one day be reunited with her brother?

Any other information about Brandla's parents and family is of course most welcome.