My Bubbe, Yetta (née Istrin) Kane was born in Miadziol, Poland in 1932. Before the war, she and her family had a warm shtetl life, surrounded a tight-knit community. They had a little farm and her father, Zelik (z”l) ran a dry goods store. Because her father traveled regularly to Vilnius (the largest nearby town) to get items for the store, when the war broke out he had heard murmurings of what was to come. When the Nazis arrived and requested that all of the Jewish men come to the local shul for a “meeting”, Zelik and his family hid in the woods. Everyone who attended the meeting was murdered. The family fled, joining a partisan caravan with other families and children. They survived unimaginable conditions, freezing temperatures, and – of course – the German’s grasp, who were always menacingly close by, eventually making their way to a Displaced Persons (DP) Camp in Siberia. After the war, Bubbe and her family came to Los Angeles. There, she met my Zayde, Rabbi David Kane (z”l) – also a survivor – at a refugee dance. The rest, as they say, is history. The two married in 1952, and built a beautiful life in Long Beach, CA where they raised their three children. Despite all of the horror she experienced as a young child, my Bubbe has an unshakable belief that she’s been blessed – a statement you’ll hear most often when she’s surrounded by any one of her nine great grandchildren.