by ILIL ARBEL
It was extremely fortunate that they decided to marry and stay in Israel, because all of Leibek’s large family, including his dentist uncle, died in the Holocaust. Leibek was the only one to survive of the entire family.
He was an amazing linguist. Already fluent in Polish, French, Yiddish, German, Latin, and Greek, Leibek quickly picked up Russian, so as to communicate better with Ida’s parents who still liked to speak Russian to each other. Naturally, he also learned Hebrew. Years later, visiting his American daughter-in-law, he picked up English in one month, from only conversations and television.
They were soon married. After a wonderful tour of Europe, including such exciting adventures as climbing Mount Vesuvius and the Swiss Alps, drifting through the Blue Grotto in Capri, and enjoying the marvelous cuisine of Belgium, not to mention its famous chocolates, Ida and Leibek settled very near the rest of the family on the bustling Allenby Street in Tel-Aviv, and Leibek opened his office. He became a very successful dentist and oral surgeon, eventually heading the Municipal Department of Dentistry in Tel-Aviv. Ida’s home was a showcase, where she invested her superb sense of design to create a most unusual, even striking décor, which at the same time was full of comfort and ease.
Ida and Leibek had a son and a daughter. They were exceptional parents, raising their children in an atmosphere of love, freedom, and respect. I hope you will be pleased to hear that they led a very happy life, full of wonderful friends, varied interests, travel, and culture.
Dr. Avraham Wissotzky
A portrait of Feera
Feera as a young woman
Ida on the ship heading for France
Ida in Nancy
Leibek in Nancy
Ida’s bust, created by an Israeli artist
Another bust modeled after Ida
Ida, painted by an Israeli artist
Allenby Street, 1933
Leibek’s office in Tel-Aviv
Feera and Moshe Mishory
At a seaside café in Tel-Aviv
Ida and Leibek with their children
Yafa, Ida’s childhood friend, a stylish young woman of the 1930s
Ora, Ida’s childhood friend, with Ida’s son (right) and her own son
The Habima Theater in Tel-Aviv
Ida’s and Feera’s older children
Ida’s and Feera’s younger children
The sisters