Paula Neyman

1926 - 2019

Paula Neyman
April 4, 1926 - October 23, 2019
Monroe, NY
Dr. Paula Neyman, 93, of Monroe, NY, died at home after a long decline following a fall nearly six years ago. She was born in 1926 in Baranowicze, Poland (modern day Belarus) to Zvi and Leah Getzowitz. Zvi died when Paula was less than two and she was adopted by her stepfather, Misha Hofstein, when she was four. The family moved to Svir in 1934 (also Belarus), where both her parents were pharmacists.
Life changed dramatically for Paula when the Nazis invaded her town in 1941 and executed all the young Jewish boys in the town square. Shortly after, her family was transported to the Vilna Ghetto, and her stepfather was arrested. She never saw him again. When Paula, her mother, and her aunt Rachel were transported to a labor camp via railroad car, her 5-year old sister Linka was concealed in a large knapsack. The child was eventually discovered hiding in the barracks by the Germans and ripped from Paula's arms. She later died in Auschwitz.
The full horrors of Paula's experiences are captured in her 1995 Shoah Foundation interview which can be viewed on YouTube. By some miracle, she, her mother, and aunt were able to remain together through five concentration camps (Lauenburg, Stutthof, Riga-Kaiserwald, Riga-Strasdenhof, and Bruss-Sophienwalde) and two death marches. The three arrived in New York City in 1947. Paula met her husband, Daniel "Teddy" Neyman, at a Purim party for Holocaust survivors in New York City. They married on May 5, 1950.
Despite having missed much of her education because of the war, Paula still dreamed of becoming a doctor. While working as an x-ray technician, she went to City College and Hunter College in Manhattan and graduated as one of only three women from NYU College of Medicine, Class of 1957. Her first daughter, Sarena, was born after her third year of medical school in 1956; her second daughter, Freyda, also a pediatrician, was born in 1961.
In 1960, Paula opened a pediatric office in the Pelham Parkway neighborhood in the Bronx where she had a thriving practice for almost 30 years. She also taught pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and was affiliated with Jacobi and Montefiore Hospitals.
In 1980, Paula and her husband bought a second home in Monroe, NY, the same town where they had rented a bungalow at Rosmarin's for more than 25 summers. When they retired from their practices in NYC in 1991, they both continued to practice medicine on a part-time basis in Orange County. Teddy died in 2003, after a ten-year battle with Alzheimer's during which he was cared for at home by Paula and a caregiver. Paula left Ramapo Valley Pediatrics in 2012 when she was 86.
At 80, Paula surprised everyone by falling in love with Jacques Levine, a renowned Middletown, NY shoemaker and distributor. She and Jacques enjoyed a rich second chapter of love, filling their days with dancing, swimming, lectures, and cultural events. Jacques died at 92 in 2014, in the early years of Paula's decline.
Paula Neyman was an intellectual who spoke six languages and harbored a deep love of learning. She was committed to teaching young people about the dangers of racism and anti-Semitism and told her story often at local high schools and middle schools. Her one lament was the hate she continued to bear against the Nazis and the 'Good Germans' who never spoke up. She compensated for this by bestowing immense love and generosity upon others: not only her family, but everyone who had any connection with her—from tradespeople to her earliest patients and their parents from 60 years ago.
Paula is survived by her daughters Sarena Neyman (Kevin), Leverett, MA and Dr. Freyda Neyman (Sarah), Montpelier, VT as well as her grandchildren, Dr. Yesenia Greeff, Dr. Martina Risech, Leo Neyman, Emmett Neyman, and great grandson Jacob Daniel Greeff. The family is eternally grateful to Madona Giorgadze who took such loving care of Paula for the last five years of her life. Contributions in Paula's name can be made to the Holocaust Museum and Center for Tolerance and Education in Suffern, NY, and the Vermont Holocaust Memorial, whose missions are to educate the community about the lessons of the Holocaust. Contributions can also be made to Congregation Eitz Chaim, Paula's synagogue in Monroe, NY.