BORENSTEIN, Pauline - It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our loving mother, Pauline Borenstein (nee Sobel) on November 7, 2020 at the age of 91.
Pauline (or Pepka as she was known to her friends) was the only daughter of Ida Singer and Ben Zion Sobel.
She was born in March 1929, five years younger than her brother Izek and five years older than her brother Romek.
Pauline was 10 when World War 2 broke out and 16 when it ended. Her town in Poland, Katowice, was about 30 kilometres from Auschwitz. On the first day of the war, her family were out of town on their summer holiday. They never returned to their home except only once after the war.
They fled hiding in homes and barns. They experienced terrifying threats of violence from soldiers and locals but also acts of kindness and compassion from strangers including one Priest. Pauline recounted some of these experiences in her interview by the Shoah foundation - an interview housed at the Holocaust Museum in Washington.
Pauline last saw her father on her 13th birthday in 1942. He died while out in a forest looking for food.
After the war, she returned to her home in Katowice and found it overtaken by former neighbours. To her everlasting pain, her father's prayer shawl was being used as a curtain.
Jack had been liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp. They married in Germany in 1949. In June 1950, their first child was born, a daughter Lina, known to all as Lee. The natural question was where to go now.Pauline, Jack and Lee were granted Refugee status in Canada and arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax in 1953 on her 24th birthday - the entry into Pier 21 being a point of pride throughout her life. They immediately moved to Montreal. For the rest of her life, Pauline always spoke about how Montreal was the most beautiful city in the world. Beatrice, Ela and Howard soon followed. Tragically, one other son died shortly after he was born and before he was named.
In December 2006, the unimaginable happened. Lee was diagnosed with cancer and died just 17 days later at 56. That, more than anything else, changed Pauline.
Pauline was absolutely crazy about all her children Lee (Hymie), Beatrice (John), Ela and Howard (Kate) and maybe even more so about her grandchildren David, Michael, Julie, James, Stephanie, Julia, Jack, Charlie and Alexandra and now great-grandchildren, Caden, Eric, Seth, Zoe and Hannah. When she was going to Israel with her grandson David, one of his friends asked him why he would travel with an "old lady". He replied "I guess you don't know my Grandma". Her daughter Ela and grand-daughter Alexandra were the only ones living in Montreal. While that meant that they bore close witness as Pauline's health declined, they also had the privilege to spend much time together including weekly traditional Friday nightdinners, Alexandra's ringette game and every imaginable holiday dinner - Christian or Jewish - together with Kathy, Joanne and Tony.
The last year or so have been unusually challenging as Pauline began struggling with dementia which accelerated greatly since Covid. Anyone who has had to witness a family member going through that knows what that entails.
The nurses, support workers and some others at the Waldorf have been compassionate and fabulous and we are grateful to them for all their care. But Algha is someone who was unbelievable. Her kindness and warmth and humour made a huge difference to Pauline's life. Algha brought.
A graveside service took place in Montreal on Sunday, November 08, 2020
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