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I think it’s important to acknowledge the hole someone leaves when they are gone and to remember them. And also to know that the best way to remember Tamara Mera Konetzpolski is to live my life really well and be really proud of my Judaism.

Tamara celebrated her Bat Mitzvah in
November 2024 

Preparing for my Bat Mitzvah has been challenging, but it’s also been hugely rewarding. One part of this journey that I feel especially proud of is twinning my Bat Mitzvah with Tamara Mera Konetzpolski, a girl whose life was tragically cut short in the Holocaust. Tamara Mera never got the chance to have her own Bat Mitzvah, and today, I honour her memory. Learning about her life has been deeply moving, and I’m proud that I got to share her story.

Tamara died along with her mother, two younger siblings and grandma. I’ve spent time researching her whole family to put together a family tree so that as well as remembering her, I can hold in mind the family that would have been so important to her. I think it’s important to acknowledge the hole someone leaves when they are gone and to remember them. And also to know that the best way to remember Tamara Mera Konetzpolski is to live my life really well and be really proud of my Judaism.

Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this wonderful programme.

Twin Now
See how others have reached their goal as our
Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah kids are sharing their stories.

Jordan Pearlman Twinned
with Urichem Ziechnik

Jordan celebrated his Bar Mitzvah on 29 August 2020. He had a zoom with family and friends from London and all around the world on Thursday 27 August 2020. He was lucky enough to lein in Shul on Shabbat morning 29 August 2020.
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Joshua Newman Twinned
with Josua Boesenach

Joshua twinned with Josua Boesenach who was born in June 1931. He was deported age 12 to Auschwitz and murdered in a gas chamber. He never got to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah. “As I celebrate my Bar Mitzvah he will be on my mind."
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Leora Moher Twinned
with Alice Chana Grunwald

I had my Bat Mitzvah in July 2019. For my Bat Mitzvah, I twinned with Yad Vashem UK Foundation. They twinned me with a girl named Alice Chana Grunwald, a surname that my family also used. Sadly, Alice Chana did not survive to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah, as she perished at Auschwitz.
Read my story

Ella Kaufman Twinned
with Ruth Shafir

I was very happy to meet you at my home and that you wish to commemorate my sister Ruth. For your Bat Mitzvah, you have chosen a project to remember a young girl of about your age who perished in the Holocaust
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Barney Leboff Twinned
with Carol Smulovici

Barney Leboff, from Shenley wanted to do something more than leyn from the Torah for his Bar mitzvah, so he twinned his Bar Mitzvah with Carol Smulovici, a young Romanian boy who was murdered during the Holocaust.
Read my story