Uncle Haim Cojocaru and his wife Elca

Chaim and Elca Cojocaru

Haim and Elca Cojocaru

Haim , my Dad's elder and only brother (he had two step-sisters though) had Parkinson's disease in his last years. It's hard to imagine a tall, sturdy person like him being made helpless by age and illness. I remember him when I was a child ,as a strong, upright figure who dominated the street with his presence.

He and his wife were a strange couple when seen together, as she was small and tiny like a bird near him. However, she was the motherly type whereas he was the big 'grown child' in need of her constant care. They were childless , and so they really had only one another .

He was a hard working man in a place which was a combination of flour mill and oil factory. Needless to say that flour and oil heavily stained his clothes and his wife Elca worked hard with the washing and cleaning. In those days, and in a little remote place like Saveni, there were no dry cleaning facilities ,neither washing machines of any kind.

It's from them, or more precisely, from her, that I got my first valuable jewlery items. Aunt Elchi gave me a pair of 14 karat earrings, a ring with a pearl and a pendant with a violet faceted stone. From him, uncle Haim, I got a golden neck chain while he was on a short visit to see us. He was already a widower then. He had lost is wife to depression and nervous disorder that lasted for quite a long period of time.

דודי חיים ואשתו אלקה

הזוג גר בעיירה סווני הרומנית

ולקח חלק בחיי הקהילה היהודית

חיים עבד בתחנת קמח מקומית

אלקה היתה עקרת בית טיפוסית

בארץ גרו בקרית אתא, בצפון

והמרחק משם אלינו לרמת השרון

גרם לנתק שצר לי עליו עד היום

גם אם טוב היה עבורם המקום

לא רצוי שכך יקרה בין אחים

מה עוד שלזוג לא היו ילדים

ואני ואחי היינו שנינו אמורים

למלא לזוג את החלל טיפין

Nene Haim, Tante Elchi

El, inalt,drept si spatos era

Ea mica si slaba ca vrabia

El la o moara de faina lucra

Ea gospodaria o conducea

In tara au locuit in Kiriat Ata

Distanta a 'dat legatura gata'

De plecat mai des la ei in Nord

Era pentru noi cam mare effort

Am apucat sa primesc de la ei

Ceva cadouri: inel, colier, cercei

Pe care le pastrez si pretuiesc

Caci astea de ei doi imi amintesc

Ea s-a dus din Depresie si tristete

El, dupa , cu Parkinson si batranete

Fie ca ei sa se odihneasca-n pace

In lumea cea eterna unde totul tace