Born September 4, 1911   |   Wlodzimierz (Ludmir), Poland (now Volodymyr Volynskyy, Ukraine)

Died August 12, 1978   |   Winnipeg, Canada

She was warm and loving and demonstrated tremendous generosity of spirit.

Sarah was very young when her father passed away, leaving her mother Molly to raise her and her younger brother Aaron. They managed by selling the vegetables they were able to grow in their garden. Though poor, they led a contented life, but everything changed when Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany. Sarah’s family and her fiancé, Shulem Lichtman, fled to the countryside where they took shelter in a dugout built and camouflaged by Aaron and Shulem. All were later apprehended and forced to live in the Ludmir Ghetto. There Sarah was put to work as a slave labourer, sewing and mending uniforms. 

Sarah and Shulem married in 1945, shortly after they were liberated. Their first child, Jack, was born the following year, in Salzburg, Austria. Together with her mother and brother, Sarah’s family immigrated to Canada in 1948, settling in Winnipeg, where they welcomed two more children, Edward and Tobi. Sarah and Shulem eventually owned and operated Nassau Grocery, where they worked side by side for many years. They looked forward to weekly Saturday night nickel poker games with their circle of Holocaust survivor friends. Sarah loved being around people and maintained an open-door policy. Everyone entered to a warm welcome and left well fed. To this day her family tries to replicate her roast chicken and potatoes and inimitable chocolate torte. Sarah joyously welcomed two grandchildren during her lifetime. Three more were born posthumously, two of them named for her. Today her descendants include five great-grandsons and one great-granddaughter.