Tuesday, March 5, 2019

A Small Correction to an Old Passover Post

It has now been over six years since I last posted. Alas, this is not a post where I announce my glorious return (I've long since moved to Twitter) but rather a short reappearance due to an email I received today.

All the way back in 2012 I shared the story of the "Kosher L'Pesach" tombstone as chronicled in The Washington Jewish Week. Though the link to the Washington Jewish Week appears to be dead, you can read the story in my original post.

Imagine my surprise when I got the following email today:

Good day,

I hope this email finds you well.
This email is with regards to your blog post on the Kosher L’Pesach as I am the Great Granddaughter of the late Walter Galler.
I have posted a comment on the post, but would also like to contact you personally as this is something dear to mine and my grandfathers heart.
I would like to clarify a few points that are incorrect.
The inscription "kasher l'Pesach" was in fact not chosen by my Great Grandmother (Anna Galler), but rather done by a family friend named Lotte Thompson, who offered to engrave the tombstone for her as she did not have the finances to do so herself-this also gives reason to why the tombstone was made out of different materials to the others. Lotte took it upon herself to engrave the inscription and unfortunately with my Great Grandmother being German and unable to understand Hebrew, she did not know what the inscription meant.
Years later my Great Uncle sent a copy of the South Africa Jewish Times to my Grandfather in Johannesburg which contained a photo of the tombstone as it was causing quite the stir amongst the Jewish community. My Grandfather finding this inscription to be a mockery and embarrassment to the family, felt that it was not deserving to his father and his mother, which led to him removing the inscription himself when he visited Swakopmund between 1976-1977.
It would be greatly appreciated if the information about the late Walter Galler could be corrected as my grandfather would like his fathers name to not be a mockery as he felt all of this has caused it to be.

I hope this clears up any misunderstandings and of course I apologize if the original post offended. Obviously I can't fact-check the story, but presented the article as is - and now similarly present this email.

Happy  (forthcoming) Purim!





No comments: