By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer
For two decades, Fanni "Faye" Cukier wanted to write about her family’s experience surviving the Holocaust, but she didn’t have the time.
Eventually, the Bell’s Corner octogenarian found the time because she thought the story’s historical significance was too great to ignore.
"Not only did I want to write it, I must write it," she said. "I’m very, very glad I did. I should have done it before. The world ought to know."
Cukier’s ordeal is contained in a whopping 460-page book called Fleeing the Swastika. The finished product, which is self-published with assistance from Xlibris Corp., was cut down from an 800-page manuscript.
The story begins on Sept. 11, 1938, when Jakob and Sofia Cukier and their teenage daughter flee their hometown of Cologne, Germany, because of anti-Jewish hostilities by Nazis. The luckier Jewish families were able to flee Europe before then.
In a way, the Cukiers fled at the right time. On Nov. 9-10 of that year, the Kristallnacht took place, with Nazis ransacking German homes, shops and synagogues, beating some Jews to death and taking others to concentration camps.
The book ends on Sept. 2, 1944, when the Allies liberated Belgium, where the Cukiers lived in exile. An epilogue outlines the end of World War II.
The first-time author dedicated the book to her parents, who died in 1987, the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust and Dr. Serafin Torres, her late husband.
It was six long years on the run for young Faye and her parents. She wrote, "C’est la guerre," or "That’s war."
"I lost my youth, but I was glad I was alive," she said. "The book helped me get over the bitterness."
The book, she hopes, will inspire individuals experiencing difficult times.
"No matter how tough things are," she said, "people should keep up their spirit and hope."
Cukier, who has two children and two grandchildren, lives on Strahle Street about eight months out of the year. She spends a couple of months in the spring and fall in Germany.
Fleeing the Swastika was published in April 2006, and Cukier acknowledges that her memory was tested because of the 60-plus years that elapsed since her family won its freedom.
The author has held several book signings in Germany. She’s hoping a German publisher will want to translate the book into that language, and she holds out hope that someone will consider the version she wrote for film or stage.
Now, Cukier is busy promoting the book in Philadelphia. She’s already held book signings at Northeast Regional Library and the Welsh Road Library, with appearances planned at the Bustleton branch and Gratz College. Dates of those appearances have not been determined.
The Cukiers were an affluent family, but that didn’t matter in the late 1930s in Germany. They spent six years living in dozens of apartments in the Belgian cities of Brussels, Antwerp, Limburg and Dunkirk. They slept on hard floors and didn’t have many hot meals. Faye, a natural brunette, dyed her hair blonde to try to fit in with the non-Jewish population.
The family lived in constant fear, often behind locked doors, of being harmed or sent back to Germany.
"If you heard an idling motor, you thought that was the end," Faye Cukier said.
All the time, the Cukiers hoped to secure visas to come to the United States, but the lines were long at the U.S. Consulate in Belgium with others seeking similar escapes.
"You couldn’t even get inside," she said.
The Cukiers were fortunate that they never were sent to Auschwitz or other concentration camps, but they saw plenty of tragedy. One time, the man who lived a floor below them in an apartment building was shot in mid-air as he tried to jump to safety.
The family had to register with local authorities and acquire residency permits every time they moved. They had few possessions, since their living quarters were tight. One item Faye was glad she brought was her fur coat, which kept her warm in the winter.
To keep her spirits up, Faye danced, walked along the commercial strip and marveled at the architecture. She went on dates and taught the English language. And she dreamed of being free to pursue a career as a singer and piano player.
By the late summer of 1944, she was free to pursue her dreams. Her favorite memories were seeing American tanks controlling the local roads, the Union Jack flying in the air and the Nazi officers accepting defeat.
"They were no longer swaggering," she said.
Faye Cukier stayed in Belgium until 1948, then moved to her uncle’s house in Paterson, N.J. She later moved to New York and Miami, where she was a singer and book illustrator.
In 1954, she moved to Philadelphia to take a job in the fashion industry. She demonstrated and sold clothing at Lit Brothers, Gimbel’s and Wanamaker’s. Later, she taught belly dancing at the old Northeast YWCA on Holme Avenue and modeled fashions on Steel Pier in Atlantic City.
She married three times, learned seven languages and lived for many years on Algon Avenue.
After their liberation, her parents returned to Germany, where her father was successful in the scrap metal and iron business.
It’s been almost 63 years since Brussels was liberated, but the happy memories are fresh in Faye Cukier’s mind.
"I still get chills whenever I talk about that day," she said. ••
The book "Fleeing the Swastika" costs $25. A PDF version is $15. To order a copy, call Faye Cukier at 215-342-4590.
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com