Pola Borenstein, seamstress, grocer, retail clerk and Shoah survivor

POLA BOJMAN BORENSTEIN, a former retail seamstress, sales clerk, grocer and housewife, died December 18. Borenstein, the widow of the the late Isak Borenstein to whom she was married for 57 years, enjoyed sewing clothes throughout her lifetime, a skill she learned during her formative years immediately before and during the Holocaust.

Born in Wolanow, Poland, she was 18 when war broke out in 1939. She was confined for several years in a ghetto in her hometown, before spending 18 months in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Of her six siblings only she and one brother survived the Shoah. Remarkably, she survived a death march across Germany at war’s end, eventually winding up in Stuttgart, Germany. It was there she met her future husband. They married in 1948 before emigrating to the United States.

Borenstein employed her sewing skills for work at a clothing factory in Baltimore. They lived in Baltimore for less than a year before moving to New Orleans in 1951 to meet with her first cousin, the late Gertrude Rosenblat. Gertrude’s husband Ralph was also known to the Borensteins and they worked together at a grocery store for nearly a decade. Borenstein later worked in retail outlets along the Dryades Street corridor for stores like The Big D. Eventually, she retired from retail in favor of raising her family.

A longtime member of Congregation Anshe Sfard, Borenstein was active in the sistherhood there and was a member of the National Council of Jewish Women and a lifetime member of Hadassah. She and her husband were active members of the New Americans Social Club founded by Holocaust survivors who had moved to New Orleans.

She is survived by a son Morris “Sammy” (Sabena) Borenstein and two grandchildren. Graveside services was held at Ahavas Shalom Cemetery, 4400 Elysian Fields, on Friday, December 21 at 10 a.m. Rabbi Yossie Nemes officiated with assistance from Rabbi David Polsky. Donations are suggested to the Greater New Orleans Chapter of Hadassah.