Molly Nagel

Of Blessed Memory 1918-2002

Malka Kopec believes she was born in 1918 in Różan, Poland.  As the fifth child in an affluent home, Malka enjoyed spa vacations and a spacious home.  During the attempted destruction of the community in the synagogue, the family was able to flee to Bialystock and eventually made their way to Soviet-occupied Poland. In 1940 the family was arrested by the Soviets and sent to Siberia to perform forced labor. There, Malka met and married her husband, Sam Nagel. In 1944, they were moved to the Caucuses where their daughter Beverly was born. After the war, the Nagels briefly returned to Poland, but after experiencing antisemitism, made their way to Germany where they lived in Ansbach displaced persons camp and their son Jack was born. The Nagels emigrated to the United States in 1949.