Fannie Kaplan

I could tell you the story of Fannie Kaplan but I couldn't do the story justice, so I'll let her brother, Bernard Kaplan (who has since passed away) tell you the story. Please view the video below.

(Transcript follows).



At the time Fannie passed away I was 8 years old. And she was 2. There was an epidemic. And then, of course, they had to bury this child. There was no money. Neither one had a bank book. Didn't have five cents in the bank.

An uncle of mine came along and he heard of an organization called the Hebrew Free Burial on the East Side. He contacted them. And they had come up and made all arrangements for burial and picked up the entire bill.

As the months went by, years went by, I say to my mother, "Ma, where is Fannie buried?" "Ich veisht nisht, epfes in Staten Island." And years went by and it always laid in back of my head, because no one gave me an answer.

Finally, I happened to go down one afternoon for a New York Post. And I see the headline, "Tragic Kids Never Forgotten." But when I read the paper, and I see a stone being placed, and next to the stone it says "Fannie Kaplan" I said this is quite a miracle. This is something I'm searching for 60 years, and to never find out where my sister was buried. This was really a miracle. It took me 60 years to find my sister.

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To particiapte in the Leave Your Mark program, to sponsor stones for indigent Jews, please contact the HFBA office at 212-239-1662.