February 5th, the fifteenth of the Hebrew month of Sh’vat is the yahrzeit of Alisa's mother, Bella. Like others of her generation, Bella endured hardship after hardship in her life in Russia until Alisa ensured that she and Naum emigrated to Stockholm. In her final months Bella was trapped within her body, unable to speak her thoughts. It was her lovely eyes that spoke and her graceful hands that declared her emotions as she touched Alisa or photos of her family. Leslie and I were moved when we met her and saw her eyes light up as we talked about Alisa. We’ve reprinted the eulogy given at her funeral by a rabbi who did not know her well but gathered the story of her life from her family. The English translation is followed by the original Swedish.
The English Translation of the Eulogy
Bella Chrapkovskaja was born in 1928 in Leningrad, the only daughter...



