Obituary |
Feb. 9, 1923 - Jan. 30, 2011 Chava Rosenfarb, the last of the great Yiddish novelists, passed away Sunday, January 30, in Lethbridge, Alberta. A survivor of the Lodz ghetto, of Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen, Rosenfarb transmuted her experiences into fiction, specifically into her major novel, The Tree of Life: A Trilogy of Life in the Lodz Ghetto. Her novels Bociany and Of Lodz and Love are also available in English. as is a collection of short stories called Survivors. She was the recipient of numerous literary awards, including Israel's Manger Prize. as well as an honorary degree from the University of Lethbridge. Born in Lodz, Poland in 1923 she married Henry Morgentaler in 1949, shortly before their arrival in Canada. They divorced in 1975. Her second husband was Bono Wiener of Melbourne, Australia. She is survived by her two children, Goldie Morgentaler of Lethbridge, Alberta, and Abraham Morgentaler of Boston, as well as by her grandchildren, Maya and Hannah Morgentaler and by her sister Henia Reinhartz of Toronto, niece Adele Reinhartz and nephew Abraham Reinhartz and their families. There will be a gathering to remember her at Paperman's Chapel on Thursday, Feb. 3, at noon. She had the warmest heart and the sharpest mind. |