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Following in the Footsteps of Ancestors by Zahava Sherez

11/2/2017

2 Comments

 
Picture

I heard of my great-great-grandmother Ester Shapira for the first time in March of 2014. That year I joined a guided trip to Argentina to follow the footsteps of the Gauchos Judios*. The only thing I knew about any of my ancestors was that my maternal grandfather Miguel Tepper, was the first one to be born in Argentina and became a Jewish Gaucho.

With the tour group we arrived in a town called Moises Ville. What unfolded opened a door into a family and a family story I never knew.

We were guided to the Jewish cemetery, then to a specific grave where Ester Shapira introduced herself to me; her image, encased in a small nook on her gravestone protected by glass, stared at me.
 
She was born in Ukraine in 1844. In 1888 the family had to flee Ukraine due to violent pogroms against the Jews in many parts of the European continent. My family joined a group of 800 Jews who bought land in one of the only countries that was willing to accept Jewish refugees: Argentina. With big hope for a new, peaceful and safe beginning they sailed into the unknown.  
​
What they encountered was the complete opposite of their expectations.
After a more than a month at sea they arrived in Buenos Aires, tired, sick, hungry. There was no one at the port to greet them, show them the way to their new land, or even speak their language Yiddish. They had no choice but to continue their journey to the north of the country were they thought their land was waiting for them. After weeks of traveling on dirt roads they arrived to their destination.
 
They understood then that there was no land, that their money was stolen for no good reason and that they had no plan and no one to turn to. For weeks they sat by the railroad station asking passersby for “pan” (bread), the only word they learn in Spanish. They lost many especially the young children.
 
The story has a happy ending as one day a Jewish doctor was on a train passing by that station and being Jewish was able to understand them. He decided to stay with them and help. He contacted a philanthropist, the Baron Hirsch, a German Jew who was so moved by the story that he bought them land so they can settle and create the community they were longing for. They named the village they founded Moises Ville – The Village of Moses, because they felt they had also walked the desert for 40 years like the Jews who escaped Egypt so many generations ago.
 
With time the family, and the entire community, thrived. Miguel, my grandfather was the first child to be born in the new country.
 
A five consecutive generations of immigrants was born. My parents left Argentina to Israel due to sever anti-Semitism after WWII. I was nine years old. I left Israel for the United States with my three sons to give them the option to grow up as men without wars.

My children are the fifth generation.
​



* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_gauchos

2 Comments
T
11/8/2017 08:33:31 am

When will we get it right....when will we ‘love thy neighbor’...embrace one another and gleam the good we all have. Your family’s story is still being replicated in every country and there is just to much loss to endure. When will we get it right?

Reply
Zahava link
11/12/2017 05:06:04 pm

Hi T, that’s exactly the reason I created this sculpture - “Those People Are Us”. In 2003-2006 as a result of us invading Iraq refugees began fleeing the war zone. Our media kept writing about “Those People”.
Highlighting the fact that this has happened before to most of our ancestors, one generation or another, I created this installation. Thank you for your comment.

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    STORIES from
    Beyond Borders

    WHY
    As a component of our Beyond Borders: Stories of im/Migration exhibition, we hope to move beyond the stereotypes, to grow a compassionate community and to personalize experiences of migration, immigration, assimilation, arrests and deportation. 

    WHO CAN SHARE THEIR STORIES
    Anyone who has personal or observed experiences with migration, immigration, assimilation, arrests  and/or deportation issues within the U.S. or other countries. 

    WHAT KIND OF STORIES
    Why did you migrate?  What was migration like for you?
    Did you choose to leave your home or did the political or environmental situation in our homeland force you to leave? Where did you want to go and why? Did you have a choice as to where you went? What happened during immigration? How were you received in your new country?  Did you feel secure in your new country?  Were you able to create the new life you imagined? How did you and your family assimilate? What kind of resources did you find helpful?  What were/are the challenges? Do you feel that your new community has accepted you into it? Do you feel like a citizen of your new country? If so, what made you feel that way? What did you bring with you and why are those things important to you? What did you leave behind? What do you fear? Do you fear being deported?   Have you or any of your family been deported? Been threatened with deportation? If so, what happened? Have you been in a deportation center or a refugee camp? And, any other stories you feel can help us become a more understanding, inclusive community. 

    WHAT KIND OF FORMATS
    We encourage you to send stories, photos, even videos to us. You may choose whether or not to use your real name or a pseudonym. Do not be concerned about perfect spelling, grammar, or form. What is important is your story. It can be conversational, bullet points, poetic, a series of phrases.. whatever method works for you.

    We will accept stories in any language (if you wish to include an English translation, your story length may be doubled). Stories may be short paragraphs to 1200 words. You may include photographs up to 1 GB, .mp4 videos less than 1 GB or links to Vimeo/YouTube, and links to online material.  We can also include a downloadable document. 

    HOW
    Please email to [email protected]  

    ​WHERE
    To expand our dialogue as far as possible, in addition to this blog, we may share your story on our Facebook Page (Gutfreund Cornett Art), our Twitter (@GCA_Art), in the online and printed catalogs for our exhibition "Beyond Borders: Stories of im/Migration" and with visitors to that exhibition.

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