Cunard White Star red oval luggage label used by a Polish Jewish prewar emigre

Ryfka Regina Tewel was born on November 3, 1909, in Bartkowka, Poland, to a Jewish couple. She had five older siblings: Saul, Sara, Hana, Rachel, and Mine. Ryfka’s family was wealthy. Her father owned a ferry that traveled across the San River from Bartkowka to Dynow, a bar, and a lumber business. Ryfka’s mother Hana died when she was eight. Ryfka began working in the family businesses when she was 9. Her family spoke Polish, Yiddish, and German. She learned Hebrew at school. Circa 1937, Ryfka’s father suffered a stroke and became an invalid. Ryfka cared for him until he died a year later.

Ryfka wanted a different life and decided to emigrate to the United States or Palestine. Her maternal aunt and her husband Saul Birkkrantz lived in Pittsburgh and agreed to sponsor her visa for the US. On July 22, 1938, Ryfka sailed from Southampton, England, on the SS Britannic, arriving in New York on July 31. Ryfka settled in Pittsburgh and changed her name to Rita. She worked at a bakery. Her aunt and uncle wanted her to marry their son, but she refused. In 1941, Rita married Benjamin Newberg, a widower with three children. He owned a large wholesale clothing store and promised to bring Rita’s family to the US. They sent money to her siblings in Poland, but Rita never heard from them again. On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. World War II had begun and the borders were closed. The war ended when Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. During the German occupation, at least three million Jewish citizens of Poland were murdered.

Rita and Benjamin had two daughters. Rita worked with Benjamin in his clothing business. In 1946, Rita corresponded with relatives in displaced persons camps. She learned that most of her family perished in the Holocaust. She believed that her siblings were killed in a concentration camp. She was told that one of her nephews was saved by a non-Jewish woman, but was not able to find him. In September 1946, Rita’s husband Benjamin died. Rita later married Morris Weiger (1913-1994), a Holocaust survivor from Luck, Poland (now Lutsk, Ukraine). Rita, 90, passed away on May 2, 2000, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.