I have recently learned about my family in Tarnow. My grandfather, Maurice Brandstatter, was from Tarnow and emigrated with his family in the early 1900's to the U.S. The rabbi Mordechai David Brandstaeter mentioned in this article is a relative. I recently connected with a cousin in Israel (our grandfathers were first cousins). Although many relatives left Poland early, many did not and were murdered in the Shoah. I have located a database from Yad Vashem with 21 names.
I always wondered about my family in Poland since I knew very little growing up. I only met a handful of relatives, many whom emigrated to Israel and now use the name Mokady. I met Yehoshua Brandstatter in Israel two years before his death in 1975. He emigrated to Palestine in the early 1900's starting a moshav, establishing the first film industry and later became a well-known artist. His son, Amos Mokady, is also a painter, film producer, and writer. Another relative Moshe Mokady who is deceased became a famous painter. My cousin Georges Brandstatter born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1939, currently reside in Tel Aviv. He is also a painter, and has published two books about the Jewish Resistance.
I am now in Poland and went to the Polin Museum yesterday. I will plan to visit Tarnow, and will hopefully learn more about my family.
B'Shalom,
Carol Brandstatter Myers
