Sima Makowitz
Sima Makowitz, a Holocaust survivor, passed away Oct. 2, 2019. Rabbi Yossi Serebryanski, with the assistance of Rabbi Yisroel Engel, officiated at the Oct. 4 graveside service at Mt. Nebo Cemetery. Shalom Funeral Services made the arrangements.
“She had a bubbly and vivacious personality and a beautiful smile,” a niece said.
Sima Koenig was born March 28, 1928, in Lwow, Poland, to Yitzhak Koenig and Breindel Weisbrodt Koenig. Her mother died before the occupation, and the Nazis killed her father.
Narrowly escaping being shot at a mass grave, Sima obtained false Catholic papers in an attempt to elude the Nazis, but Poles constantly threatened to expose her to the Nazis.
She finally allowed herself to be taken as a Polish slave. The Nazis deported her to Germany and other sites where she worked in a munitions factory and did farm labor.
“Sima was liberated by the Scots — kilts, bagpipes and all,” the family said.
After the war, Sima returned alone to Poland. She begged the Jewish Agency for permission to enter the DP camp as a Jew. The JA refused but later rescinded its decision.
She met Andrzej (later Andrew) Makowicz, who later became a military judge and private attorney, in the DP camp. They married on Oct. 6, 1948.
The family arrived in Brooklyn, where they had relatives, in 1962.
A housewife and homemaker, Sima also worked in a garment store in Harlem.
Upon their retirement, the Makowitzes traveled throughout the US, particularly New York state. During the summers, the family spent weeks camping in the Adirondack Mountains and visited historical locations and natural wonders.
The couple retired to Boca Raton, Fla., in 1992, summered in Colorado and moved here in 2014 to be closer to their son Mark and his family.
Andrew Makowitz passed away in 2015.
Sima enjoyed music, dancing, watching “One Life to Live” and “General Hospital,” walking, swimming and taking aerobics classes.
Sima Makowitz is survived by her sons Mark (Samadar) Makowitz and Henry Makowitz; grandsons Shalom Chai, Yehuda Makowitz and Alexander Crisswell and granddaughters Adina Malka and Yocheved Rivkah; and nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
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