This past Shabbos, Parshiyos VaYakhel-P’kudei, as we closed Sefer Sh’mos and the words of Chazak, Chazak, v’Nis’chazeik reverberated throughout shuls, Mrs. Magda Schwartz a”h, the well-known sheitel macher of Kew Gardens, passed away. Fittingly, as we each intoned, “Be strong! Be strong! And may we be strengthened!” the source of strength for many people went to her eternal reward.
As one of the women who came to be menacheim aveil so aptly described: “Stepping into Mrs. Schwartz’s house was like stepping back in time, to a time when you were being embraced by your mother and all was well for that moment. You had come for a sheitel appointment, but the aroma of her Hungarian cooking wafted through the house, and you felt yourself relaxing. Mrs. Schwartz was a quiet woman who really listened, and you perceived in the innermost chambers of your heart that you were heard. Whether it was petty nonsense or something more serious, she truly shared in your trials and tribulations. With several well-chosen words, I always felt that I had absorbed some of her inner strength and was renewed when I left her home.”
Born in 1936 on the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary, her parents ran a grocery store and were well known for extending credit and providing for those who could not afford to put food on the table. In 1944, the Nazi war machine came to Hungary and her childhood ended. The Nazis, yimach sh’mam, began their roundups and deportations, and ultimately Mrs. Schwartz lost two sisters during this period, one older and one younger. She herself was brought to the camps and transported among several during the waning year of the war as the Germans’ obsession to exterminate Hungarian Jewry intensified. She along with one younger sister survived the war. Interestingly, although reserved by nature, for decades Mrs. Schwartz made it a point to speak several times a year in Bais Yaakov of Queens about her Holocaust experiences. Her family has in their possession quite a few letters from the talmidos expressing their thanks and noting the impact her remarks, especially as her thoughts were communicated from the perspective of a child survivor so close to their own ages.
In 1956, Mrs. Schwartz, along with many Hungarian Jews, immigrated to America, where she took a job in a textile factory, sewing buttons onto garments, working long hours to support herself and her younger sister. In 1957, she married Beryl Schwartz and was escorted to the chupah by friends as was common practice for survivors. The young couple settled in Crown Heights, which was beginning to bloom into a flourishing and vibrant Jewish community. They were industrious and hardworking, and Mrs. Schwartz herself tried her hand at being a cook and taking in boarders. Slowly, they were able to scrimp and save enough to put a down payment on a house in Kew Gardens.
In Queens, she again relied on her strength and confidence and taught herself the art of wig making, traveling back to Europe to learn the trade. Thousands of individuals from around the world came to her humble salon to buy or fix a wig, but more often – and maybe unknown even to her – customers enjoyed spending time in her presence. She was known to be honest to a fault in all her dealings, and anytime a question arose, she would settle it to her detriment, so as not to have a hint of another person’s money in her pocket.
Mrs. Schwartz’s husband passed away when she was 59, leaving her alone while still young and lively. She pushed forward, never remarrying. Her good nature, ready smile, and words of encouragement continued to bring scores of people to her home. With her strength of character, Mrs. Schwartz singlehandedly took charge for the care of her mother who, for many years, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, long before medical assistance organizations existed to aide with caring for those suffering from the ailment.
In the last decade of her life, Mrs. Schwartz moved to Kew Gardens Hills to be closer to her children. She eventually moved in with her daughter’s family, where she spent her remaining years.
Magda leaves behind her son, Efraim Schwartz, and her daughter, Chaya Kahan, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, who are all shomrei Torah u’mitzvos.
Y’hi zichrah baruch!
By QJL Staff
