Born February 7, 1923   |   Lodz (Lodzh), Poland

Died February 20, 2018   |   Calgary, Canada

Pola took deep satisfaction in surviving and helping to ensure the education and success of those that followed her. Her mantra was the Yiddish expression “oyf tsu lokhes,” an acknowledgment that she had thwarted the Nazis and prevailed. 

Born in Lodz, Pola moved to Radom, Poland with her mother after her father passed away. There, Pola—one of four known siblings—lived with her older sister Frajndl while training as a seamstress. Fearing the invading Nazis, the family sent Pola eastward where Ukrainian farmers courageously hid her for close to a year. Pola later worked for the Red Army in Siberia, where she met her future husband, Rachmiel (Ralph). 

Pola returned to Poland after the war hoping to find surviving relatives and reclaim the family home. The Poles living there ominously told her that if she wished to live, she should leave. Discovering the name of her nephew Sucher (Sid) Cyngiser on a Red Cross list of survivors, Pola travelled to the Stuttgart Displaced Persons Camp to reunite with him. So great was Pola’s resemblance to her murdered sister that Sucher burst into tears, thinking Pola was his mother. Pola and Rachmiel married in 1945. Their son Lorne (Leibish) was born in 1946 in the camp. The family immigrated to Canada in 1948, sponsored by Sucher’s paternal great-aunt Bella Singer. Resolute and strong, Pola taught herself English and worked hard to build a better life in Calgary. Sadly, the path was not always smooth; her daughter Elsie, born in 1952, passed away tragically in 1975. Despite the trauma she had experienced, Pola endured, taking much joy in her son Lorne, his wife Beth and their three children. Pola lived to welcome four great-grandchildren; her posthumous legacy includes two more. She kept in touch with her Ukrainian protectors and brought their son Kirill and his wife to Calgary for a memorable visit during the 1980s.