this is our story

Raizel (Teresa) Bleich bas R' Usher Zelig Haleivi and Levia Leah (Leonora) Rosenthal

Our matriarch, the late and beloved Reizel (Teresa) Bleich, was born in March of 1924 to R' Usher Zelig Halevi and Levia Leah (Leonora) Rosenthal in the town of Salgótarján in Northern Hungary. It lies less than 70 miles from the capital, Budapest.
Life in Salgótarjan flourished for the most part. Her father, R' Usher Zelig, ran a large department store where many other Jews and locals were employed, and they earned a nice and ehrlich income. She always used to say, "We always had what we needed..."

In July of 1944, when the Nazi regime's Final Solution to the "Jewish Question" (in German: Judenfrage) was in full operation, and the mass deportation of Hungarian Jewry to designated camps in Poland began, Salgótarjan wasn't spared. The entire Rosenthal family was placed on Eichmann's trains and transported to the world's infamous Auschwitz camp. Upon arrival, it is known that about 80% of Hungarian Jews were deemed ineligible for slavery or medical experiments and were sent to the gas chambers right away. This included my grandmother's parents, R' Usher Zelig, Levia Leah, and their elderly parents, as well as most of their married children, including Rivka, her husband, and their six little children, along with most of her other siblings. My grandmother, her brother Chaim, and her younger sister Edith were spared and sent as slave laborers to Auschwitz. Since men and women were separated, the two sisters were able to stay together.
My grandmother didn't speak much about the horrors she witnessed in the camps and always refrained from talking about it, like many other holocaust survivors. 
She did share the following story with us:
It occurred in January 1945, as the Soviet Red Army advanced on occupied Poland. Nine days before the Soviets arrived at the death camp Auschwitz, the SS started what is now known as the infamous "Death March." During this march, the Nazi SS forced nearly 60,000 prisoners out of the camp, marching them for over 35 miles towards Wodzisław Śląski (German: Loslau) without water, food, or rest. The death march had strict rules, and anyone who turned back, fell down, tripped, seemed weak, or did not comply fully was immediately shot to death.
My grandmother, Reizel, and her younger sister, Edith, were walking together. They managed to stay together for the most part, but as they neared the end, young Edith began to feel unwell. Reizel, being her older sister, held her hand and encouraged her to keep walking, assuring her that the nightmare would soon come to an end. Suddenly, Edith tripped on debris, and her leg got stuck beneath it, screaming for help. She was immediately shot by an SS officer. At this point, my grandmother burst into tears and said, "I was never able to give my sister a proper goodbye... I wasn't allowed to turn around and look back because I would have been shot, too..."
This is the most we heard from her. A few days later, they were freed by the Allies. She reunited with her only other surviving sibling (out of 10), R' Chaim Rosenthal.
She soon after came to America, where she married our grandfather, Reb Aaron Bleich Z"L, and against all odds, started building a beautiful family all alone.
Despite everything she went through, losing all her family, she was a person full of life.
When I was younger, she used to pick me up every Shabbat, winter, or summer, and take me out to the park. She always brought along snacks and her freshly baked goodies and made sure we had a blast!
She proudly used to say and sing, "I am happy that I am a Jew, and I would never give it up for anything!"
Until two years ago (at the age of high 90's) she worked at a mailbox store on 183 Wilson Street, sorting out the mail every day. She used to walk every day from her home on Hewes Street to work and back as well as taking additional walks as it was her favorite thing to do! She also, every night before she went to sleep, used to play with my grandfather a game, checkers, chess, and her favorite of all was Rummy!
Until her last breath, a few days ago when she was bed-bound, she asked the family to take her out onto the porch. She wanted to see the sun, the people, and have some fresh air. She passed away peacefully in her sleep at 2 am and left us, a generation who will long and yearn for genuine, loving, and happy human beings like her. May her beautiful memory live in me and my family forever. 
🕯תנצב"ה🕯