The Gun brothers: the late Anszel and Jack.
A year later, Sam continued to have a
nagging feeling, and he reconnected with
the genealogist. Upon further investiga-
tion, they discovered the two boys were
in fact members of the family but never
met the Gun brothers. The family mem-
bers who knew the boys had all passed
away. There was, however, one daughter
born after the brothers were liberated.
She heard stories about “the Jewish boys”
from her sister.
Sam met that daughter, Anna Primas,
a woman in her 70s, and 16 of her
relatives in April when he traveled to
the Ukraine to have them recognized
as Righteous Among the Nations, an
honor given by Israel’s official Holocaust
memorial, Yad Vashem, on behalf of the
State of Israel to known rescuers or fam-
ily members, if the rescuer is deceased.
“I feel like that chapter is complete
now,” Sam Gun said. “After all the
searching we did, we were able to find
descendants of the family that saved my
father and uncle’s lives and see them
honored.”
YAD VASHEM HONOR
If the years of searching didn’t frustrate
the Guns, getting the designation and a
ceremony date was tiresome, to say the
least. Sam sent testimony from his uncle
and photos to Yad Vashem and waited
for a response and then a ceremony date
from the Israeli Embassy in the Ukraine.
The testimony described how the
brothers hid in a family’s corn fields until
the harvest and then fled to a nearby for-
est where a gentile friend of their father’s
brought them food and clothing. When
they were nearly discovered, they were
sent to hide with another family, farther
out in the country. Despite another close
call, they successfully hid there until the
area was liberated.
In his Yad Vashem testimony, Anszel
Gun, a former Detroiter who passed
away earlier this year, wrote: “I was
certain that Mr. Primas would throw us
out rather than risk his family’s safety.
Instead, Mr. Primas said, ‘Now you are
my brother … I will keep you here until
you are liberated’ … He kept his word.”
Despite finally getting the designa-
tion of Righteous Among the Nations, it
took a phone call from Sam’s cousin, Avi
Dichter, a member of the Knesset and
former head of the Shin Bet — among
other impressive titles — to finally
arrange a ceremony date with the Israeli
embassy in the Ukraine.
“The ceremony was very emotional.
Standing there in the presence of the
Primas family was surreal,” Sam said.
“Mr. Primas’ daughter was crying and
kept reiterating that when she goes back
home she will visit her sisters’ gravesites
and will tell them that the Jewish boys
survived.
“The experience gave me a new-found
appreciation of the gravity of what my
father and uncle must have endured. I
witnessed firsthand a huge ravine mark-
ing the mass grave where their families
as well as thousands of others were bru-
tally murdered. Despite my experience
and new perspective, the horror that my
father and uncle lived through remains
incomprehensible to me.
“It is amazing to me that despite this
trauma, both my father and uncle went
on to lead productive lives and raise our
families. My pilgrimage to Ukraine has
reinforced my commitment to ensuring
that my children and succeeding genera-
tions understand their roots so that it
is never forgotten. I also feel privileged
to have honored my father and my late
uncle.”
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July 14 • 2016
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