Link to Family Tree to understand family relationships.
As we’ve seen in past posts, Helene’s nephew Paul Zerzawy had difficulty landing on his feet when he came to America. He had years of education and several degrees, had risen in the ranks as a soldier in World War I, and had a successful career in Vienna. Yet, when he arrived in the U.S. in 1939 at the age of 43, he had neither the means nor the skills necessary to have a successful career. He fell back on his skills as a musician and became a piano teacher and accompanist.
Today we see a flyer for a benefit concert held at a private home in Berkeley, California on October 14, 1946.
The concert raised money to help settle European Jewish war orphans in Birobidjan/Birobidzhan in the farthest reaches of eastern Siberia. Note the price of postage in 1946: 1-1/2 cents! This remote area was designated by the USSR as the “Jewish Autonomous Region”. Although there was a revival of the area from 1946-1948, Stalin soon made life hell for the Jews living there -- unfortunately these generous people probably made things worse for those poor children.
Paul accompanied a Polish contralto named Anna Opaletska in music by Brahms and Polish and Russian folk songs. It appears that he accompanied her on a fairly regular basis. In trying to find more about Miss Opaletska, I found an article from the October 11, 1946 issue of the Oakland Tribune which described the upcoming event:
from newspapers.com: page 14 of the October 11, 1946 issue of the Oakland Tribune
Affair Set for War Orphans
Polish and Russian folk songs, presented by Miss Anna Opaletska in native costume, will be a feature of the tea Monday afternoon at 2:30 at the home of Mrs. Henry Sicular on La Loma Avenue, Berkeley, to benefit European war orphans.
Giving the tea is the Bay Area American Biro-Bidjan committee, whose work [is] toward resettlement and rehabilitation of orphans and refugees in Biro-Bidjan, a Jewish autonomous republic of the U.S.S.R.
Paul Zerzawy of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, who will accompany Miss Opaletska, is also donating his talents to the benefit. Sponsors include….
A report on work being done or planned for Biro-Bidjan orphans will be made at the tea by J.B. Aronoff based on information just brought to this country by B.Z. Goldberg, National Committee representative. Dr. Albert Einstein is national president of the committee.
Apparently the fund was set up in 1945 and was known as the “Einstein Fund”.
We have already spent a fair amount of time this year in another part of eastern Siberia, where Paul’s brother Erich spent the last years of his brief life at a POW camp in Beresowka/Beresovka. They do not appear to be close to each other except compared to anywhere in Europe.
I do not know which Brahms songs were played, but I found a Brahms song for contralto, viola, and piano which gives us some idea.