Born July 26, 1918   |   Lowicz (Lovitsh), Poland

Died March 28, 2011   |   Montreal, Canada

Bronia never gave up on life. Despite the pain she endured, she was grateful that Hashem—God—made it possible for her to survive and have children. A wonderful cook and meticulous homemaker, she created a warm and beautiful home.

Bronia’s mother died when she was four years old. Left with four young children, her father soon remarried, and Bronia gained several more siblings. Although her stepmother was kind, Bronia moved to Lodz at the age of 13 and worked at her uncle’s bakery and pastry shop. In February 1940, Bronia was forced into the Lodz Ghetto. When it was liquidated, she was sent to Auschwitz with her father, stepmother and siblings. During a selektion, Bronia’s stepmother was torn away from the family. When she screamed, the Nazis murdered her in front of them. Spared the gas chambers but forced into heavy labour in a munitions factory, Bronia lost most of her sight in one eye due to the strain of lifting heavy loads. The frostbite, beatings and losses she endured led to lifelong pain.

Following liberation, Bronia learned that only her brother Chaim Marek, half-brother Israel and one sister survived the camps. Her brothers made it to Palestine, but her sister—whose name is forgotten—was killed when her ship was torpedoed. After briefly living in a Displaced Persons camp, Bronia married Holocaust survivor Aron Wengier in Lodz in 1946; she had known him and his first wife prior to the war. Bronia and Aron’s daughter Sabina was born in Poland in 1947. In 1952, the family settled in Montreal, where Florence was born. Gentle and warm, Bronia enjoyed socializing with Polish landsmen. Though she experienced depression, especially following the stillbirths of three sons, she remained deeply faithful, always facing forward. She took much naches—deep pride—in her daughters and was proud to be bubbie to five grandchildren. Her legacy includes 15 great-grandchildren, 12 of whom she lived to meet.