Family Roots #3

I have finally finished my family roots project.

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Family Roots

Lucas Anschel

           This is a paper about family roots. It traces back to older times, when my family first came to this country. It talks about my two sides of my family, one from Minsk and Berlin, the other from Britain and Canada. It explains how my ancestors are different from all other families. It narrates different stories from family members, and why it is important to learn your history of blood and where you came from.  

My first side of my family came from Minsk, Russia and Germany. This is my mom, Nancy’s side. My grandmother named Arlene came from Minsk, Russia. They moved during the 1900’s because of other family in the United States, religious freedom and because Jews had a very hard time in Russia. They kept very religious and traditional homes, kept kosher and went to Hebrew school. They wanted other generations to know that the children always came first. They were generous, strong, smart, loving, giving, charitable and fine people they were. My grandfather came to America during 1939 from Germany, around Holocaust times. It was very hard to get to America, because of the German police and Nazi troopers. They use to be really rich, but the German government robbed them.  They had just enough money to get to America. They were strong and they worked as salesmen and in retail stores when they got to the U.S. They wanted their generations to know of the struggles they had when they were in Germany. They were happy about Israel gaining statehood. Both of my families loved America, and they never wanted to go back.

           My other side of the family is not Jewish and I have little information to share about them. Wendy is the person I have interviewed. She is my other mom. This side is mostly American, because half of them came from Canada, and the other half came to America on the Mayflower. The only thing I have to share is about my Wendy’s musical history. My mom’s great grandfather, Lloyd Rafnell, started a small orchestra when he was nineteen. He played the trombone in the band. The band became very popular in New England. Soon, Lloyd’s son joined the band and played the bass, and his sister was the singer. When Wendy was five, they taught her music.

This next section is about some of the more specific stories my family has to share. This first one is told by Arlene, my grandmother. This is when she was in college and she was modeling for pajamas. Her mom, my great-grandmother, knew and kept it a secret from her dad. When her dad actually found out, she was at a party, so he went there and dragged Arlene out by the hand with everyone looking. This next story comes from Nancy, and it is mostly focused on my great-grandmother, Arlenes mother, Hilda. Hilda has been blind for most of her life, but she was very independent. She cooked, baked, cleaned with little to no help. One night, she made soup for her family, but it turns out there were little bugs cooked into the soup that Hilda couldn’t see. The importance of this story is that is ok to laugh at yourself. The last story is about my aunt, Hillary and her first dog. When Hillary and Nancy were little, they got a poodle named Brandy. They have always wanted a dog, and they loved Brandy a lot. One day, years later, when Hillary came home, Nancy, and her parents, my grandparents were there to tell her that Brandy had passed away. This is a sad but touching story because her parents came a long way to tell her that.

Here is why my family differs from other families. Back when the Holocaust was cooking up and when Hitler became more powerful, my grandfather’s side was lucky enough to escape. It was difficult for them to escape Germany and get to America. Especially with all the yellow stars they wore, Nazi troops and German police officers were after them. If they had waited longer to get out of Germany, they would have been put in concentration camps, and I, nor my mother would exist. I think what makes my family unique is the luck we have, and I am very grateful.     

This paragraph is the explanation of why it is so important for you to learn family history. First off, you might not know who you are or where you came from if you don’t know your family. Also, someone’s father might want there heir to carry out their legacy, but if the heir doesn’t know about his father in the first place, then he won’t do it. It is not only important to you, but also to the world around you. If you have a legendary relative who shared none of his stories or identities, then it would be like he had never existed, or a memory never remembered again. Also, if your family had made a dreaded mistake in the past, then you might be doomed to repeat it again. History is important, so is family.