My Great Aunt Filomena  (z”l) was a force to be reckoned with. She was a tall, strong, Sefardic Jewish woman, who, although self-taught, was considered highly educated.  When World War I broke out, Filomena, her husband and her son  all of whom were on holiday in the US, were now blocked from returning home to Italy, “What a tragedy,” the family said, but Filomena saw this turn of events not as a setback but an opportunity.

In short order, Filomena set up her small business as she had done in the “Old Country,” which consisted of writing and reading letters for Italian Americans who did not have those skills. As the years passed, Filomena’s business acumen grew to include the creation of a home-style local bank where she established individual accounts for her neighbors (no more shoeboxes under the bed) and lent money to family and friends when she felt that an idea or a need had merit.

As time went on, Filomena became well known in her Pittsburgh suburb, Homewood, and as WW II drew to a close and  reports of atrocities against Jews began to surface, Filomena was often asked her opinion of the antisemitism in Europe that gave rise to the Holocaust. And her answer was........

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