Ratafia family papers

Tema Ratafia (1925-2013, later Tema de Ratafia) was born in Wilno, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania) to Moise Ginzburg (b. 1886) and Rachel Rubenstein Ginzburg (b. 1899). Her father was a coal and wood merchant and her mother was a teacher. She had an older brother Benjamin (b. 1922) and a twin sister Eta (b. 1925, later Eda Golde). During the interwar years as life became difficult for Jews in Wilno, her father began to lose business and struggle financially. Shortly after the German occupation of Wilno in 1941, the Germans began issuing anti-Jewish decrees. By the end of August 1941, Tema’s grandmother and uncle had been shot in the Ponary forest along with around 35,000 other Jews. On September 6, 1941, the Germans established two ghettos in Wilno. Tema and her family were placed in the larger one. Tema's father received a work permit, but her mother did not. To assist the family Tema and her siblings found work within the ghetto, including cleaning the latrines. The ghetto was liquidated in 1943, and Tema’s mother and brother were sent to Stutthof concentration camp where they were killed. Her father was sent to Chelmno death camp and killed. During the liquidation, Tema and her friend Esther fled to the home of an acquaintance of her mother, Josefa Mackiewicz (b. 1871). She was willing to hide one child. Esther could not come with her to Josefa's house, and Tema did not want to leave her behind, so they left together and lived in the woods for a few days. They were caught and Esther was killed, but Tema managed to escape and return to Josefa's home. After a few weeks, an antisemitic neighbor discovered Tema and threatened to denounce Josefa. Both women fled to the home of Joseph Raugiewicz, a factory owner in Kalisz. Joseph provided Tema with false Christian papers claiming her name was Leokadia Rynkiewich, and Josefa had her baptized with the name Teresa. The Gestapo later arrested Joseph for harboring Jews, but his friend Piotr Piewcewicz warned Tema in time for her to escape. After a few weeks, the Gestapo released Joseph, and Tema returned to his home. Joseph sent Tema back to Josefa who at that time was also harboring a teacher, a lawyer, and a doctor, but he helped the women out financially. Josefa sheltered Tema until liberation. Lazarz Ludwig Ratafia (1915-1984) was born in Warsaw, Poland to Kopel and Elka Ratafia. He had one brother, Gaston, and one sister, Zosia. Lazarz’s experiences during the war are unknown. Gaston fled Poland wearing a swastika armband and carrying a copy of Deutschland Erwacht for cover. Zosia survived the war, but was killed in a post-war pogrom in Poland. After the war, Tema continued to use her false identity of Leokadia Rynkiewich for many years. She moved to Warsaw where she met Lazarz Ratafia. They married in 1948, and had two children, Helene (b. 1948) and George (b. 1950, later George de Ratafia). Tema insisted that Josefa live with them in gratitude for having saved her, and she stayed with them for the next ten years. Tema and Lazarz moved to Paris, France around 1956, and their children George and Helene spent some time in an orphanage. In 1953, an acquaintance of Tema's told her that she had met someone who looked just like her. In that way, Tema discovered that her twin sister Eta had survived and immigrated to the United States. In 1957, Tema immigrated to the United States to live with Eta. Her husband and children joined her two years later.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of George de Ratafia

The Ratafia family papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by George de Ratafia in 2005, with an accretion in 2015. George de Ratafia is the son of Tema and Lazarz Ratafia.