Our mother, Paula Bratu Z”L recently left us at the age of ninety, after a short illness.
Paula was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1934. As a child during the Second World War, she struggled against considerable privations. At times, her family hid in a river while the city was being bombed. She recalled seeing a synagogue being burned during the Bucharest Pogrom of 1941.
She will be remembered for her strength of character, fierce intelligence, tenacity, and zest for life. She burnt brightly to the very end.
She was approved for a Holocaust pension by the Claims Conference shortly before her death and had planned to use these funds to make her final arrangements, she passed away before being able to benefit from restitution for her experiences during the war.
She is buried in Pardes Chaim cemetery north of Toronto (see https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/277684431/paula-bratu ). We would like to arrange for an upright headstone which commemorates her life and also recognizes her and our father’s experience as Holocaust survivors but are under financial pressure due to the economy as well as debts assumed in settling our mother’s estate. We need an additional US$2000 approx to be able to cover the expense of an upright headstone. Please consider helping us accomplish this mitzvah in her memory.
