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Shoah survivor seeks
to reunite with his sister.
Above: Harry Praw's father, Shaja Mordecha Praw, 1929.
Below: Harry Praw's oldest sister, Basia Jakubowicz, 1939.
HARRY KIRSBAUM •
Stair Writer
alking a mile in Harry Praw's shoes the last few weeks has
been part David meets Goliath and part Yossarian in
Catch-22. And it's far from over.
Praw, a Holocaust survivor who thought he lost his
whole family during World War II, received' a startling call in early May
from the Southeastern Michigan chapter of the American Red Cross.
The news was that the Red Cross may .Have found his oldest sister, after
61 years . apart.
The forms Praw filled out eight years
ago with family names had hit a match
: : : : : a
on a computer database somewhere in
.,
am
the world. But his surprise was quickly
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replaced by frustration. Praw was
z, : :
informed that the sister, now 90 years
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old, told the Red Cross her whole fami-
Red Cross rules to
ly had died in the war and she didn't
want to be contacted by anyone.
protect one person are
Red Cross rules of confidentiality
frustrating another.
forbid the release of information that
could locate Praw's sister, bui-Praw has
his own opinion. "I asked them, 'You
call me up after 60 years, you're telling
me you found my sister, but you don't want to tell me where she is,'" he
said. "It doesn't make any sense. They know where she is, but they won't
give any other information."
Barbara O'Neill, American Red Cross supervisor of casework services
in Detroit, is very sympathetic to Praw's complaint, and in the past
three weeks, has talked to him almost every day. She understands how
he feels, but she is bound by her organization's rules.
"We have a dilemma," she said. "Harry's our client and has come
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5/26
2000
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