Sally N Bass' Obituary
Sally Bass (86) of Delray Beach, Florida, passed away on September 14, 2023, from complications related to a stroke. Sally was a survivor who lived an incredible life. She is survived by her husband, Sheldon Bass; daughter Debbie and husband Howie Karen and their daughter Alexa Karen and fiancé Carmine Romano; son Dean and wife Janet Stevens and their son Matt Stevens and wife Lindsay Silberman along with stepson Skylor Mayer and wife Mechelle and their children Mariah and Dallas; and son Neil Bass and wife Leslie Meskin and their children Jessica and Adam.
Sally loved to knit, and most recently devoted her time helping create toy animals for sick children. Sally had two careers during her lifetime. As a young woman, she taught special education in the Bronx, New York, and later owned and operated a greeting card & gift store, Elmora Stationery, in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Sally spoke several languages as a child, including Yiddish, Polish, German, French, and English. As an orphan of the Holocaust, Sally began her formal schooling at age 9, when she immigrated to the U.S. in 1947. She graduated from P.S. 86 in the Bronx in 1951, followed by Washington Irving High School (as Valedictorian) in 1955, and finally Hunter College where she studied to become a schoolteacher.
Sally did not talk about herself much, or her experiences as a hidden child during the Holocaust. Few people know that she was born, Salka Nisenbaum, in a small Polish town called Dzialoszyce (pronounced jah-woh-SHIH-tseh, or Jollashitz), in 1937.
The Jewish population of Dzialoszyce numbered almost 10,000 when WWII began. In September 1942, the Nazis rounded up the Jews of Dzialoszyce, marched them 5 miles to a train station, and transported them to the Belzec and Auschwitz Death Camps where they were murdered. Those who could not make the journey on foot to the train station (about 1,400 of them) were immediately rounded up and executed with machine gun fire. Among the casualties in 1942 were Sally’s two brothers, sister, mother, father, and almost all her extended family. Of the 10,000 Jews living in the town, fewer than 200 survived.
In 1939, as the Nazi invasion and occupation of Dzialoszyce was imminent, Sally began living with the family’s midwife and friend, Adela Nemet, in Krakow. Adela was married; however, she did not have any biological children of her own. Adela agreed to hide Sally during the war and return her when it was safe. At the age of two, this would be the last time Sally would see her biological parents and siblings.
Living under the assumed name of Mariska Nemet, Sally lived with Adela in Krakow during the war. Adela told others that Mariska was her niece. They experienced at least one close call when the Gestapo knocked on their door, looking for Jews.
All of this happened when Sally was a little kid, generally oblivious to these events, hiding with Adela Nemet in Krakow. Sally grew up in Krakow, unable to attend school since she didn’t ‘exist’ in the Polish and German records. Adela was a very religious woman – a “Righteous Christian” as Sally would remember her years later - who brought Sally to church with her every Sunday. Church was one of the few safe places for Sally. Adela home-schooled Sally to the best of her ability. Adela told Sally that she was Jewish, but that she could not tell anyone
because she and Adela would be killed if their secret was revealed. Sally witnessed several Jewish people get murdered in the streets of Krakow.
When the war ended, Sally’s aunt Sophie paid a visit to Adela Nemet and asked her to return Sally into her custody. Sally was eight years old and had no recollection of her Aunt Sophie or anyone else from her family. As far as Sally was concerned, Adela was her mother. Adela, unable to have children of her own, was reluctant to give up her Mariska.
Adela was torn. She consulted with her priest, who convinced her to release Mariska because she may ultimately end up in the United States, where life would be better. The priest was right. Sally and Sophie traveled by train to Feldafing, Germany, and lived in a displaced persons camp. At the age of eight, Sally began attending a real school for the first time at the camp.
Sally and Sophie were granted passage to the U.S. in January 1947 on a U.S. Navy ship, the S.S. Ernie Pyle. The ship held 628 Holocaust survivors including 92 orphaned refugee children. Traveling by ship across the Atlantic Ocean in the winter was rough. During the journey, which took more than a week, almost everyone on board got seasick. When they arrived at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty came into view, everyone cheered loudly.
Sally settled in Philadelphia and was ultimately adopted by Philip and Sadie Nordenberg of the Bronx, New York. “They were wonderful parents who stressed education and respect,” Sally would recall. She went on to raise her own children in the Bronx, followed by New Jersey, and ultimately retired to Delray Beach, Florida.
What’s your fondest memory of Sally?
What’s a lesson you learned from Sally?
Share a story where Sally's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Sally you’ll never forget.
How did Sally make you smile?
