Fun with Cousins

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"We moved to Queens for a while, and then in 1954 my brother was born.

"My Aunt Edie and her three daughters lived in Brooklyn with my uncle. They lived in the bottom part of a two-storey house, and on the top were my uncle’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Babitch. And I would go there quite frequently t visit them, and my middle cousin in that family was about nine months younger than me. And they had Sandy, who was born in ‘46, and Karen, that was born in ‘49, and Janice, who I believe was born in ‘53, and I really enjoyed going there.

And also my grandparents, my father’s parents, eventually bought a restaurant. It was a little candy store and luncheonette. And of course I was the only grandchild, and they would treat me like a queen, and I loved going there. My grandfather would make homemade ice cream in the basement, and they had a pickle man, and they had a jukebox. And the records-- the guy that brought the ‘45s-- he would give me the records after. And I would help them behind the counter, and I have such fond memories of that."

Editor's Note: Susan Heinemann grew up in New York City without knowing that her parents were Holocaust survivors. Her close-knit family, including aunts and cousins, provided a foundation of support for her as she eventually came to learn about her family's traumatic past.