Steven Pearl
The making of Steven Pearl’s quilt square – I have to say, it has been tougher than I first thought. Whilst wanting to create a celebration of our father’s life and keep to the positives, sadly the Holocaust and its effects on his spirit have very much affected his life. When we were young he did not speak of it at all and we only learnt from our mother of the terrible atrocities that he had witnessed and suffered. However, later in life, he has spoken about it much more and it was often on his mind, so we felt that some mention of those he had lost and those who had miraculously survived had to be incorporated.
The photograph of our parents’ wedding day and the mention of his family were essential as he was a very proud husband and father. The strong yellow sun is there because Dad has always loved the sunshine and was happiest visiting our family in Israel, going to the beach or staying at Lake Kinneret with them all. The bracelet represents his profession as a jeweller; he worked for the same small company in Hatton Garden for many years until he retired.We are more fortunate than some of the second and third generation in that our father is still with us (we lost our mother to cancer some 19 years ago) but sadly – due to his advanced state of dementia – his memories and his recognition of his family and his friends, especially ‘The Boys’ that he has been so close to for all these years, has gone and so working on this square has been particularly poignant for me. The commemorative memory quilts are a wonderful idea and our family are very happy to participate and hope that the quilts will be a lasting tribute in some small way to the many that suffered in the Holocaust.
Kim Fleming
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