MARIANKA ZADIKOW MAY Marianka Zadikow May, passed away peacefully at home on October 9th, 2022. She was 99 years old. Born on May 26th, 1923, in Munich, Germany, Marianka moved to Prague at the age of ten. There, she worked hard to learn to speak Czech, mainly by singing folk songs. In May 1942, Marianka and her parents were transported to Terezín. On the train, she found her best friend, and they stood by the window singing Czech folk songs together. In the attic of her barracks at Terezín, Marianka met a women who asked her if she liked to sing. She was handed a slip of paper, and told, “Be there tomorrow after work and don’t tell anybody.” When she went, she found a small group of women, a harmonium, and Rafael Schächter. Ultimately, Marianka sang in all 16 performances of Verdi’s Requiem at Terezín. Marianka’s father died in Terezín, but she and her mother were liberated on May 8, 1945. In 1947, Marianka’s uncle sent an affidavit of support for her to travel to America, and in 1950, her mother joined her. Through friends, she met Eric May. Eric was a Czech Jew who came to the US just before the war. They were married on August 30, 1950. In 1952 they bought a farm in New York and had several thousand chickens. Their daughter Lori was born that year, and her sister Liesi was born in 1955. The family spent many happy hours singing together at home in the evenings. Eric passed away in 1986, and Marianka continued to live on the farm for the rest of her life, close to her daughters. FRED TERNA Fred Terna died on December 8. He was the husband of Rebecca Shiffman and father of Daniel Terna. Fred was born in 1923 in Vienna and moved to Prague when he was very young, around the time his brother Tommy was born. Fred’s mother died of pneumonia in 1932, and his father never remarried. When the Nazis arrived, Fred’s father arranged for him to be in hiding, and from 1939 to 1941, he lived, with false papers, on a farm. Ultimately, Fred was sent to his first camp, Lipa. In March of 1943, all of the people at there were sent to Terezín. A music-lover, Fred attended many performances of the Verdi Requiem led by Rafael Schächter. Fred was sent to Auschwitz in 1944, and later that year, to Kaufering, from where he was liberated on April 27, 1945. In 1946, Fred married Stella Horner and they moved to New York in 1951. Eventually the couple separated, and Stella died soon thereafter. In 1982, Fred met Rebecca Shiffman, herself a child of survivors. Several months later they were married, and later, their son Daniel was born. Fred always had an interest in art and while in Terezín, he decided he wanted to be a painter. He became internationally recognized as an artist and a scholar. His art is shown in galleries in solo shows, and he lectured throughout the United States on religion, art history, and the Shoah. He maintained a sunny disposition and positive outlook, at one point saying, “I consider myself a happy person, with a wonderful wife and promising son, a community I am comfortable in and a job I like.”
Photo credit: Michael J. Lutch
Photo credit: Daniel Terna
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