Paul Berkman:  

I had a great time at the reunion. It was wonderful seeing everyone, we must stay in touch. Check out my restaurant's website -- Rutabegorz.com or better yet come and have a delicious meal. Just days after the reunion, I'm sorry to say I lost my mother, Marsha Berkman. Here is her legacy... May 1, 1920 to October 16, 2007. Marsha Berkman survived the Holocaust when 94% of Lithuania Jews were slaughtered. Despite her dark past, she remained an optimist and enjoyed all the little pleasures in life. Her final years were enjoying retirement, cooking for family and friends and volunteering at various organizations and hospitals. She was born in Rosaine, Lithuania in 1920, the third children of four and the only daughter. Her father was cobbler too poor to afford the leather for his own shoes. He died when she was just 3-years-old and the fractured family would struggle in these difficult times. Her mother would never remarry and years later would be her source of strength in the concentration camps. As a teen she wed for the first time to Hlee Seno¿r and the couple had a daughter named Cecelia. By the age of 20, she was a daughter, wife and mother. In 1940, Hitler¿s men surrounded her young family and all her relatives and their village was taken captive. Soon they were packed into train cars and shipped off to Poland and to the horrific concentration camps. This would be the last time she would see her husband when they were separated at their arrival to this new country. Next she would lose her only child. Holding her as tight as she could, this little girl with blond curly hair was taken from her. Soldiers were beating her, cutting through her with wire until she fell and lost her grip. Cecelia was snatched and the guards went off with her as she was screaming and crying ¿Momma, Momma¿. Hysterical in protest, bleeding and bruised, this was the last time she ever saw her precious child, not yet 3-years-old, ever again. A ten-inch gash now scarred on her back is a sad reminder of that dreadful day. In 1945, after five horrendous years in the camps, they were liberated. Marsha would marry for the second time to a man she met while captive. Along with her new husband Phillip Berkman, sixteen years her senior, they would begin a new life together. The couple immigrated to the United States in 1948, when she was 3-months pregnant. After several miscarriages, she had a successful pregnancy and her only son Paul was born in Los Angeles. In her new country with her new family, Marsha who barely spoke English would settle in to her new home. Phillip struggled to make a living, and Marsha had to contribute to the family income. In the early fifties, she would start working in the wardrobe department of Paramount Studios. It was during the heyday of Hollywood when she was in the wings of movie sets, prepared with needle and thread to make last minute repairs. She sewed garments for such huge stars of the day as Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brunner, Alan Ladd, and Veronica Lake. Marsha Berkman kne...Expand for more