Obituary: Paula Popowski
She survived the Holocaust in Poland by pretending to be a Catholic and living at a convent.
Paula Kornblum Popowski, 94, passed away Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017.
She was the daughter of Moshe and Sarah Kornblum. Born in Kaluszyn, Poland, in 1923, Paula survived the Holocaust along with her sister by using false documents to hide their Jewish identities. They lived in hiding as Catholics at a convent while working in a glass factory in southern Poland. After the war, she and her sister were smuggled into Germany and ended up in a displaced persons camp. There she met Henry Popowski, a community leader in the camp, and they married in August 1947.
Paula was universally known for her warm smile and tight hugs. She was a brilliant woman who, with Henry, ran Henry’s Furniture Co. in downtown Charleston, S.C. Paula was devoted to her family, always up to date on the lives of her children and grandchildren. She was a true matriarch and worked tirelessly to ensure a strong family unit. She was an accomplished cook and seamstress who avidly read the newspaper and watched “Jeopardy!” and CNN. Never driving a car, Paula could be seen walking city streets on her errands in her beloved adopted city, Charleston. Paula volunteered for many years at Roper Hospital, which was a rewarding experience for her.
Paula was predeceased by her husband, Henry Popowski. She is survived by sons Mark Popowski (Helene) and David Popowski (Anita Zucker); daughters Sarah Popowski and Martha Berlin (Barry); grandchildren Stephanie, Corey, Gabriel and Emma Popowski and Carly and Ross Berlin; and nephew Myron Rushetzky.
Graveside funeral services were held Tuesday, Sept. 19, at the Brith Sholom Beth Israel Cemetery in Charleston with Rabbi Moshe Davis officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Weber School, 6751 Roswell Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30328, www.weberschool.org; the William Breman Jewish Home, 3150 Howell Mill Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30327, www.wbjh.org; or the Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta, 1440 Spring St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30309, www.jwfatlanta.org. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999, and J. Henry Stuhr Inc. Funeral Chapels, Charleston, 843-723-2524.
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