My Mom, Sime Meshul, Holocaust Survivor and My Hero

After taking a trip to Poland in 2010, Bonnie became obsessed with genealogy and traced her mother’s path through the Pruzany Ghetto, Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen and Feldafing, DP Camp. Bonnie’s most recent journey to Poland was as a delegate to the March of the Living.  Bonnie’s mother, Sime Kamieniecki (Kaminsky), was born in Poland, the oldest of 5 children, and survived two years in the Pruzany Ghetto, Poland, with her family.  After being imprisoned from 1943-1945 in Auschwitz Concentration Camp and surviving the war she came to America. Bonnie researched her family genealogy including her mother’s path through the Pruzany Ghetto, Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen and Feldafing, DP Camp. This  presentation will share Sime Meshul’s story of family life beginning in Sheroshevo, Poland (now Belarus), and ending with liberation. It is a moving story of one woman’s ability to survive.

Biography:
Bonnie Rae Meshul Vorspan is a long-time member of JGSLA. She was raised in Oxnard, California, and is a first-generation American. Having graduated from UCLA with a BA in English and from the University of Cincinnati with an MA in Early Childhood Education, she became a preschool teacher and then ECEC Director. Now retired, she volunteers at Kadima Day School, and teaches Israeli dancing to children in the Early Childhood Education Center (where her daughter, Alisha, is the director). She is a past National President of The Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework, as well as a past president of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the Pomegranate Guild. Her husband is Rabbi David Vorspan. Bonnie volunteers as a presenter for the Holocaust Museum of Los Angeles, sharing and preserving her mother’s journey through life.