RELATIVES IN ISRAEL HOPE TO FIND LENA IN PRAGUE

Rabbi Hillel Possek (1881 - 1953) had six children.

His daughter Judith "Dasha" Possek seems to have been quite a personality.

In 1922 she finished the gymnasium in Kishinev (Moldova) , so we think she was born around 1900 - 1905.

Later she studied medicine in Prague, now the Czech Republic.

We think she became a MD, as she worked in hospital in Prague.

"Dasha" was Jewish, but met and married a non- Jewish medical doctor.

The couple were communists.

Probably around 1940 they seem to have been arrested by the German and/or Czeckoslovakian authorities.

Dasha was pregnant and, according to the story, gave birth to her daughter in prison.

The baby daughter was then given to a married female friend. This second couple may have known them from their profession in the medical field or perhaps from their political activities as communists. We don't know.

The little baby girl was named Lena (by biological parents? by foster parents?) and continued to live with the foster mother till the Second World War was over.

By then it was clear Lena's biological parents had been murdered.

The husband of the foster mother was also dead/ murdered. Perhaps he was a communist, too? Or a Jew?

The grandfather in Eretz Israel heard what had happened to his daughter Dasha and her family. In 1948 he managed to send one of his other daughters to Prague to meet Lena and try to bring her back to Israel.

But then Lena's paternal uncle, a brother of her non Jewish father, also turned up and wanted Lena to stay in Prague.

To make things even more complicated for the Possek family, Lena's paternal uncle married Lena's foster mother, the widow.

This couple was then probably  granted the custody of the girl by local authorities. Lena stayed in Prague with her uncle turned adoptive father and fostermother turned adoptive mother.

The living relatives do not know

1. Dasha's married name

2. The given name and the family name of Dasha's husband, Lena's father

3. The names of the foster parents

4. The given name and family name of Lena's paternal uncle who later became her adoptive father

Lena's maternal aunt from Israel visited her several times between 1948 - 1955. She used to correspond with the foster parents of Lena and sent Lena  small presents  through  a Mrs. Bick, a lady from Prague permitted to visit her daughter in Israel.

The aunt died in 1967. In the meantime all documents (letters and photos) were lost, and only one photo still exists  in the family - a photo of Lena.

When Lena became an adult, the Communist rule in Czeckoslovakia made it difficult to keep contact with the relatives in Israel. She probably worked in the Postal Service or Postal Ministry.

There was much sadness and pain in her Israeli family, knowing she was alive, but that they had no possibilty to find her.

Lena should now be around 67 years old. Her relatives in Israel hope to locate her, to get to know her.

They hope she ( and the family they hope she has) would like to meet them.