OCTOBER 28 • 2021 | 19

Cemetery monument memorializes the Kay family and 
the graveless Holocaust victims of Wloszczowa, Poland.

T

he myriad of tombstones of 
Chesed Shel Emes Cemetery in 
Clinton Township are uniform 
in height and shape, lined up in even 
rows that mark the graves of hundreds 
of Jewish Detroiters.
But Section 18 has one tombstone 
unlike any other with several com-
ponents — a tall centerpiece with 
two carved dark stones positioned 
one above the other, framed by two 
light-colored stones similar to the 
cemetery’s gravestones. This is the 
Kay/Kreps monument created by 
Louis Kay to remember and honor 
his 200 family members and 800 
other Jewish families of Wloszczowa, 
Poland, who were killed during the 
Holocaust. 
Leybus Szyja Kreps was almost 14 
when the Germans invaded Poland 
and took over his hometown in 
September 1939. Wloszczowa 
is located 

in Kielce province, about 70 miles 
north of Krakow. According to The 
Yad Vashem Encyclopedia of the Ghettos 
during the Holocaust before World War 
II, the town had 2,700 Jewish residents 
— about one-half of its population. 
Kreps’ parents had a grocery store in 
Wloszczowa, where the family had 
lived for 150 years, according to his 
adult children.
During the fall of 1942, Kreps’ par-
ents, six of his siblings and many other 
family and community members were 
transported to Treblinka and killed 
on Yom Kippur. Kreps and two of his 
brothers were saved from that fate as 
they had been sent to Skarzysko — a 
brutal labor camp in Poland.
The camp’s German operators 
would ask new prisoners if anyone 
wanted to go home. Those who raised 
their hands to indicate yes, including 
Louis’ brother Yisrael, were sent into 
the forest and shot. His brother, 
Shmuel, died from illness while at 
the camp during Pesach in 1943.
Kreps managed to survive more 
than three years of suffering in 
seven labor and concentration 
camps in Poland and Germany. 
His son Dr. Marc Kay, 66, who 
lives in Phoenix, said, “He sur-
vived in case there was a broth-
er, and so there would be some 
Jews. No one could survive.
” 
On April 11, 1945, 
Kreps was liberated by the 
Americans, and he then 
returned to Wloszczowa. 
Similar to other survivors’ 
experiences, some former 
neighbors and townspeo-
ple were not happy to 
see them — preferring 
to keep the houses and 
businesses that they had 
taken over from Jewish 
residents who were transported 
to concentration camps. Kreps had 
one bit of luck; he was able to retrieve 
family photos saved by a childhood 

friend. Many 
Holocaust survivors have no 
such family photos.
In 1949, the Joint Distribution 
Committee helped Kreps emigrate to 
the U.S. and he settled in Detroit. He 
changed his name to Louis Kay and 
began building a new life with Gladys 
Silverman, his American-born wife. 
Kay started off working in a factory 
and then as a scrap metal dealer, even-
tually opening a bottle recycling com-
pany which expanded over the years. 
The Kays had four children and lived 
in Oak Park.

‘A PLACE TO GO’
“The Holocaust was very present in 
our house. One side of the family 
doesn’t exist. There were pictures of 
his family on the wall. He would go to 
cemeteries, and there was nothing to 
go to,
” said son Marc. 
“He needed a place to go,
” added 
Victor “
Avi” Kay, 62, who lives in 
Jerusalem.
So in 1969, Kay had a stone created 
at Chesed Shel Emes listing the mem-
bers of the Kreps and Klainman (his 
mother’s maiden name) families who 
perished during World War II at the 
hand of the Nazis. Individual photos 
are encased next to the names of eight 
family members along with their ages 
at the time of death. (Photos weren’t 
available for several family members.) 
Part of the stone is shaped like the 
tablets of the Ten Commandments. 
Marc, who was 14 at the time, remem-
bers other survivors coming from out 
of town for the monument’s dedica-
tion in 1969. Stuart Kay, 58, who lives 
in Franklin, believes that this was the 
first personal Holocaust memorial in 
the U.S.
Visiting the cemetery monument 

is located 
the forest and shot. His brother, 
Shmuel, died from illness while at 
the camp during Pesach in 1943.

Kreps managed to survive more 

than three years of suffering in 
seven labor and concentration 
camps in Poland and Germany. 
His son Dr. Marc Kay, 66, who 
lives in Phoenix, said, “He sur-
vived in case there was a broth-
er, and so there would be some 
Jews. No one could survive.
” 

On April 11, 1945, 

Kreps was liberated by the 
Americans, and he then 
returned to Wloszczowa. 
Similar to other survivors’ 
experiences, some former 

residents who were transported 

to concentration camps. Kreps had 
Louis Kay and his four siblings: Brothers 
Aaron and Szaya, Sister Rojza, nephew 
Zuchor and Louis (front right).

KAY FAMILY

Louis Kay, 
who was 
named a JN
Mitzvah Hero 
in 1989.

JN FILE PHOTO

continued on page 20