The Horse Adjutant $100, a great sum for him back then. But, at the time, I thought I don’t even know who he was, so I said, ‘Let’s wait.’ I had a good job as an interior decorator back in the States, so I was able to stay for a while longer. One curious thing prior to the marriage was a public notice asking, ‘Is anyone married to him?’ There were no civil ceremonies like this in the United States. This marriage was controlled by the rabbinate, the reli- gious Orthodox. And importantly, this was not just any Orthodoxy, it was none other than a sect of the Halberstam’s. When the rabbi was speaking with Leon, it was clear that he knew Leon’s family from his hometown. He said, ‘I know your family, espe- cially your grandfather, Enyuten Yosel (Red Joseph).’ This made us both feel connected to our past, the perfect sect to marry us. He continued, ‘Ich bin Sacz’ (Nowy-Sacz). We went to a hotel for a week for our honeymoon and then I had to go back to the USA. Leon wasn’t able to leave. It would be months before I would see him again. We wrote letters during this time. Leon only wanted to live in Israel. I could not do it. I had an apartment in the USA as well as a job. He had to come to America. Within about seven months he arrived at the airport. “We were both mentally damaged, Leon far more than I. The war put us under the constant stress of wondering what would happen next. Leon and I still wake up with night terrors once in a while, especially now that we are older. He jumps up in a sweat. I asked him what is the matter and he says he was being chased and running with his horse. We have other friends who went through similar things, and many had kids and families. My sister was one of them. We decided that we would have no kids. Life has its own way on subjects like this. Soon after our marriage, I was diagnosed with a tumor in the uterus. After the diagnosis, the doctor asked Leon if he wanted kids or his wife. Leon chose a wife.” “For us, the war may have ended, but we think about it every day, even when we try not to. Leon works as an educator, trying to teach young people about the Holocaust. This becomes a constant reminder of our life and times. It seems like it was yesterday.” Leon continued the story: “We got along right away. She grew up nearby my home- town, in Krakow. As we spoke, I told her about my life and she about hers. It did not take me too long to mention Szebnie and my love of horses before she countered with her own story about a man with a mustache that would frequent a canteen in Krakow. He was an old German fellow that also smoked a pipe. We compared notes, and sure enough, it had to be Sargent Strybuc. When I left for Auschwitz, he and Kommandant Grzimek, with the horse, Maciek, went to Krakow. That is how I knew my horse was there. She saw the horse as Kommandant Grzimek paraded around the area. March 1958. I knew I had met my soulmate. And on the 26th of June, 1958, we
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