Jerusalemites: Brenda's and George's story

By KAROLINA CHOJNACKA
Brenda and George enjoyed Friday afternoon out. The weather was extremely beautiful. I was looking at them with much interest. The love was in the air!
“It’s our second marriage. We both lost our first partners. How did we meet? It’s complicated… We had a common friend – Brenda’s brother in law. He passed away and his wife introduced us. We have been married for 30 years and here comes the best part – we have six daughters.
Brenda: “We were both very lucky. My father went to America in late 20’s. His family was taken to Auschwitz in 1944. I grew up in Pennsylvania. My growing up was happy and peaceful. I am one of the seven children. Everyone lives in America and Canada except me and my sister. I came to Jerusalem for the first time in 1970 and knew I had to live here. In 1973 I made Aliyah. In 1985 I met this wonderful man. He comes from Switzerland so we moved there and lived for 15 years. In 2000 we immigrated to Israel together. I witnessed most of Jerusalem being built in the past time. I feel fortunate to be a part of its history.
George: My parents were born in Germany. My father was religious. When the war broke up, my mother was able to escape to England. We lived there. In 1948 we joined my father in Switzerland... I was a professor at Swiss University of Technology for 30 years. Having being Zionists we had planned to come to Israel with Brenda when I retired. We made Aliyah in 2000. I had a second career, I started at an engineering faculty and for the first time in my life I feel lucky. Coming to Israel was a dream come true. I was able to make a contribution like you. It’s a country of immigrants, it’s our country. We are citizens of America, Israel, Switzerland but only here I feel I am not a foreigner.
You know that you can stop anyone on the street because each of us here has a story.”