Franny and Evyatar Waisman sat down with Israel National News to talk about "Adele's Song," the powerful story of Evyatar's grandmother's sister Adele, sung by Franny.
Adele was born into a Hungarian Jewish family who were taken to Auschwitz. Out of 13 siblings, most survived, including Adele. But after the Holocaust, she ran away and led a new existence for 80 years, changing her name to Eve, hiding her Jewish identity, marrying a non-Jew, and totally disconnecting from the family out of fear.
The family tried for a long time to reach out to her but she didn't want anyone to know she was Jewish.
She also wanted to be cremated at the end of her life and buried as a non-Jew.
When Franny married Evyatar, she learned the story of Adele and says "it was a painful piece of a puzzle that's totally missing."
Evyatar explains: “It’s not a big story because of all the pain [associated with it.] But it’s a story that goes on with my family and we tried not to touch it so much.”
Two years ago, Franny was about to leave for a work-related recruitment trip. A few days before departure, one of the siblings suddenly connected with Adele and “instead of pushing them away, she responded positively.”
Days later, Franny changed her itinerary to visit Adele – who was then 100-years old – at her home. She connected Adele to her sister via video chat.
Franny recalls: “It was an instant connection. They video chatted. Everybody was crying. They were talking in Hungarian which I didn’t know. Adele doesn’t speak Hebrew. Out of all the siblings in [Evyatar’s] massive family, the only person who speaks English is me. So I am sent there. When we speak, I tell her about how she’s not alone. I tell her about all the grandchildren and great grandchildren.”
She adds that before she left, “I said, ‘Adele, don’t let Hitler win. Your parents, your siblings were burned, you don’t have to do that. You can always come back to the family, come be buried next to your siblings in Israel.’ She said, ‘Is that possible?’ I said, ‘Yes.’”
They stayed in touch for two years. She also stayed in touch with the last two of her 13 siblings.
A few months ago, Adele passed away. They managed, with some complications that were worked out, to have her body taken to Israel to be buried with her original name and next to her family.
Evyatar says that the funeral had a very emotional and surreal feel to it, as no one could believe that Adele had come back to the family as her last wish.
“All the family came from all the areas of Israel,” Evyatar says. “Nobody believed what was happening.”
From that story comes the song, “Adele’s Song.”
The idea behind the song came from the lyrics written by Evyatar. It is a larger story, the story of “our nation.”
Franny elaborates: “I’m born far away from Israel and from the Jewish people and I make my journey to Israel. At the same time, Adele is making her journey. She tries to run away from her roots, and somehow we’re able to meet and connect.”
With the generation of survivors dying, Franny believes that “we’re all part of the same woven circle and nation. That’s what the song is about.”