(Great family photo of the pre-war Garten clan to come)
The Gartens
The Gartens lived in Plavo, a few miles from Roswadow, a prominent Jewish town.
Father Chaim married Sima Anfang, and together they had one son Meyer and 6 girls, Shifra, Frimsha, Henia, Esther, Manya and Kayla. Kayla died in the war.
From Ariel Garten (Meyer's Granddaughter)
My grandfather would talk about the sklep- the small general store or convenience type store that the family had, perhaps in their house. The family also seemed to have some fields, and my grandfather was buying and selling carriages of hay.
From Anne Mincer (Shifra's daughter), as recorded by Shifra Mincer, Anne's Granddaughter:
What I do know is that Shifra was named Shifra Shaindel. Her parents were Chaim and Sima Garten. Chaim was around 30 when they got married because his first wife died and Sima was around 15 because her parents died and she was orphaned. They weren't very religious but they kept Shabbos. Shifra was their oldest child, born on February 9th, 1909 and died on June 11th, 1990. Their grandfather Hershel lived with them growing up because he lived until he was 96 years old. In 1938 Shifra married Moshe Weinstock. They changed their name to Frost, Moshe's mother's maiden name, before the war hoping that it didn't sound as Jewish and it would help them avoid persecution. They lived near Plavo in Roswadow, Poland. Roswadow was more urban and populated than Plavo and also had more Jews. In 1938 they had one daughter, Chana Golda, whom they called Hania, which she shortened to Ann. She was named Chana in memory of her great-grandfather Hershel.