soul

of blessed memory

Th rough Family And Philanthropy,
She Proved ‘Hitler Didn’t Win’

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

T

tration camp. They were
he joyous Jewish life
forced to go on a Death
Henrietta G. Weisberg
March, until Russian forces
led in America was a
saved everyone a few days
rebuke to every horror she
later.
experienced in Poland dur-
“Mom had accomplished
ing World War II.
her task of keeping Rachel
A survivor of the
alive; she kept her word
Holocaust, Mrs. Weisberg,
to her mother, my grand-
89, was a Bloomfield Hills
mother,” Julie said. Their
resident, philanthropist and
father Israel and brother
the matriarch of her family
Ruben perished at Treblinka.
when she died on April 12,
Henrietta Weisberg
Brother Herschel was never
2018.
found.
“She was proud of the
Brought to Detroit, the girls
beautiful family she so boldly
lived at different times with their
loved and nurtured,” said
mother’s married sisters, Aunt
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Esther and Aunt Bessie.
Rabbi Aaron Starr at his dear
After graduating high school,
friend’s funeral service. He co-
Henrietta became a bookkeeper
officiated with Rabbi Joseph
in Hamtramck. Rachel married
Krakoff, Hazzan David Propis
quickly, while Henrietta had a
and Assistant Cantor Leonard
broken engagement before meeting her
Gutman.
great love, Alvin Weisberg. She and her
Mrs. Weisberg, Starr said, was known
“Mr. Wonderful” were attendants in the
for her “strength, profound convictions,
passion and compassion, generosity, wis- same wedding party and married after a
dom and humor.”
five-month engagement.
“It was an incredible love affair,” Julie
She was proof positive that “Hitler
said of her parents’ 63-year marriage.
didn’t win,” as she liked to proclaim,
Mr. Weisberg, who died last year, helped
though he had certainly tried.
start the former Chatham Supermarkets
In a eulogy, Julie (Weisberg) Schlafer
and was controlling shareholder of Pet
shared many details about her mother.
Supplies Plus stores in four states.
Born in Warsaw on Dec. 25, 1928,
“Nothing in the world was as beauti-
Henrietta was the third of Israel and
ful as seeing my father look lovingly at
Sarah Gastfrjnd’s four children. She
my mother,” she said. “They would walk
was something of a “spitfire” during her
around the block holding hands.”
happy middle-class childhood.
The Weisbergs also had a marriage
Just 11 when Germany invaded Poland
founded on uplifting lives. They contrib-
on Sept. 1, 1939, “Mom became a smug-
uted generously to the Jewish Federation
gler begging for food outside the ghetto
of Metropolitan Detroit and the Jewish
walls to feed the family,” Julie said.
Hospice and Chaplaincy Network.
On the first morning of Passover 1943,
families were taken away on cattle cars.
Ambulances they purchased for Magen
David Adom help countless Israelis.
Women went to Majdanek, where moth-
Their $1.5 million donation built the
er Sarah died in a gas chamber. Henrietta
Henrietta and Alvin Weisberg Center
successfully pleaded for her little sister
Rachel to stay with her. Nazis used stones for the Acute Care of the Elderly at
Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
females gathered in the field to make
Additionally, the gift established an
roads.
endowed fund for geriatric education
In August, the sisters were sent to a
and research.
labor camp that specialized in making
The Henrietta and Alvin Weisberg
ammunition. Working with chemicals
Gallery at the Holocaust Memorial
caused Henrietta’s hair and nails to turn
Center in Farmington Hills is dedicated
orange, and her skin became bright yel-
to the memory of Henrietta’s family killed
low. She also got typhoid fever. Guards
in the Shoah. In it displayed prominently
narrowly missed her hiding under the
is a World War II-era German box car,
barracks.
similar to the one Henrietta experienced.
Henrietta was invited to escape with
In 1953, Mrs. Weisberg became a mem-
other women, but she chose to remain
ber with her husband at Congregation
with Rachel. The escapees were caught
Shaarey Zedek, his parents’ synagogue.
on the fourth day and shot to death at
Their children, Steven and Julie, received
roll call. After the camp was liquidated,
strong Jewish educations. Last year, the
the sisters went to Buchenwald concen-

76

April 19 • 2018

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new Henrietta and Alvin Weisberg Lobby
began welcoming synagogue visitors.
According to Starr, Mrs. Weisberg was
proud that Steven served as president of
The Shaarey Zedek, as she called it, and
Julie is on her way to the presidency of
her Aspen Jewish Congregation.
Julie said her mother “believed deeply
in God” although their family lived a
secular Jewish life. Mrs. Weisberg enjoyed
the music at Shaarey Zedek — especially
for Kol Nidrei — although she couldn’t
carry a tune.
Shaarey Zedek’s Propis restored a
guitar Mrs. Weisberg had given him with
only one string left. At the service, he
played the guitar while singing “L’Dor
Vador” (“Generation to Generation”).
For more interests, Mrs. Weisberg was
great at games. She bowled weekly and
followed game shows on TV. A master
bridge player, she had set days to play
bridge, mah jong and canasta.
Mrs. Weisberg survived the grave
medical challenges of ovarian, kidney
and colon cancers, as well as heart dis-
ease and hypertension. She was known
to never hold a grudge, “perhaps because
she had lived through too much,” Julie
said.
Her mother’s sense of humor was a
saving grace, also helping her cope with
being “vertically challenged.”
Two years ago, Shaarey Zedek honored
Henrietta as its “Woman of Valor.”
“Though Paula Abdul was the keynote
speaker, Mrs. Weisberg was clearly the
star,” Starr said. “She made us laugh and
made us think because that’s what she
always did.”
Mrs. Weisberg was the beloved wife
of the late Alvin A. Weisberg; cherished
mother of Steven and Lori Weisberg, and
Julie and Steven Schlafer; loving “Mimi
Hank” or grandma to Jessica Weisberg,
Madeline and Logan Ostrand, Matthew
Weisberg, Bradley and Carly Schlafer, and
Scott Schlafer; proud great-grandmother
of Liam Parker Bohlin; and adored sister
of Rachel Schwartz. She’s also survived by
many loving nieces and nephews.
Contributions are suggested to
Holocaust Memorial Center, 28123
Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills,
MI 48334, www.holocaustcenter.org;
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, 27375
Bell Road, Southfield, MI 48034, www.
shaareyzedek.org; or Aspen Jewish
Congregation, 77 Meadowood Drive,
Aspen, CO 81611, www.aspenjewish.org.
Interment took place at Clover
Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel. •

SUSAN EISENSHTADT
BORAKS, 66, of
Farmington Hills, died
April 13, 2018.
She is survived
by her brothers and
sisters-in-law, Jerry
and Carol Eisenshtadt,
Boraks
Dr. James Eisenshtadt,
Elona Eisenshtadt;
nephews, Steven
(Mallery) Eisenshtadt,
Howard (Sharon) Eisenshtadt, Jeffrey
(Wendy) Eisenshtadt, Jerod Eisenshtadt;
nieces, Aria Remer, Jill Eisenshtadt and
Wendy Begres; many other loving family
members and friends.
Mrs. Boraks was the sister of the late
Robert Eisenshtadt; daughter of the late
Harry and the late Sybil Eisenshtadt.
Interment took place at Clover
Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham.
Contributions may be made to Doctors
Without Borders or to a charity of one’s
choice. Arrangements by Dorfman
Chapel.

ELSIE BRONSON, 106,
of Bloomfield Hills,
died March 25, 2018.
She was born in
Detroit, where she lived
most of her life.
Elsie and her hus-
band, Irving, cared for
Bronson
her father and mother
in their home until her
parents died. She and
Irving enjoyed travel-
ing to many places. Elsie was active in
the Young Women’s Bikur Cholim, an
organization focused on visiting and
aiding sick and poor Jews in hospitals.
She and her sister-in-law Tillie would
work on the charity’s annual fundraiser,
the Angel Ball.
She is survived by her daughter and
son-in-law, Fern and Dr. Gerald Broock
of Portland, Ore.; son and daughter-
in-law, Dr. Barry and Donna Bronson
of San Francisco, Calif.; grandchildren,
Laura Bronson Krane (David), Erick
Bronson (Liz), Dr. Heather Ann Baskin,
(Lester), Scott Broock (Lisa); great-
grandchildren, Ari, Ella and Jordan
Krane, Lexie and Zachary Bronson,
Olivia and Violet Broock, and Annabel
and Lilly Baskin; nephew, Dr. Herbert
Gardner (Margot); nieces, Lorraine
Dangovian (Alfred) and Roberta
Greenlick (Clifford); many great-nieces
and great-nephews.
Mrs. Bronson was the wife of the late
Irving Bronson; sister and sister-in-law
of the late Mervin Gardner and the late
Tillie Frankel Gardner.
Interment was at Cover Hill Park
Cemetery. Contributions may be
made to a charity of one’s choice.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.