by PATRICIA GAY and
RACHEL KIRKPATRICK

Beloved Westonite and volunteer EMT Mirjam Geismar is packing up and moving out of town — leaving behind a rich legacy of public service as well as her famous potato salad recipe.

For many years, the familiar call, “Car 21, responding to the scene,” echoed over the town’s emergency radio signals as Ms. Geismar hurried on her way to an accident scene. She and her late husband David, also an EMT volunteer, were well known for helping during times of crisis.

Friend and fellow EMT Sandy Dadik considers Ms. Geismar a dear friend, “who by age 30 had lived three lifetimes.”

Ms. Geismar was born in 1931 in Indonesia, a Dutch colony. When she was a young girl, her family moved to Holland. During World War II, Germany invaded Holland, and in 1940, bombed the city of Rotterdam. In 1942, Ms. Geismar’s Dutch-Jewish descent would force her family to lose its business and enter into a nightmare.

Survival

Then there were talks of camps. As Ms. Geismar recalled, no one understood they were extermination camps; many people went hoping to seek refuge. However her father knew that in order to survive, the family needed to hide.

With help from friends, Ms. Geismar’s father was able to hide her and her sister at separate locations for three years.  The parents were sheltered at other locations. “My parents had it hard having to give up their children. I was just a child, but it was harder for my parents,” Ms. Geismar said.

Her parents hid at 25 different addresses over the course of the three years, spending the last year in the attic of a church, lying in bed for 23 hours of the day in fear that someone would hear them walking.

Life in hiding was a constant struggle for survival. “We had to take whatever circumstances there were,” as Ms. Geismar put it. Ms. Geismar was sometimes sent with the daughter of the homeowner where she was hiding to beg and barter for food. She describes eating purple sugar beets with the beet hulled out, and tulip bulbs.  “People were starving,” she said.

Ms. Geismar considers herself lucky. Although hungry, the various people she stayed with were kind to her. Her sister was not as fortunate, and was abused during her time in hiding.

It wasn’t long before people began hearing about horrors in the concentration camps. She didn’t know what had become of her family because there was no way to communicate. As Ms. Geismar recalls, “You only heard what the Germans wanted you to hear.”

By 1945, an uncle in the Dutch underground was able to reunite the family. “We were one of the lucky ones,” she said.

Although her sister and parents survived, much of her extended family did not. She lost aunts, uncles and nephews to the Nazis.

“If it wasn’t for the people who put their lives at stake to hide me — if not for them, I wouldn’t be here today.” she said. “I will never forget them. I don’t know if I would have risked my own life to keep people in my home.”

Coming to America

After the war, in 1945, Ms. Geismar’s family reunited and moved back to Rotterdam. By 1948, they moved to Israel where she met her American husband, David, and had two children. Her husband eventually joined the Israeli army. Intuitively, they decided to move to America in 1957; they felt Israel was too war-torn.

The Geismars lived for a short time in Jersey City, but knew friends in Westport and soon moved into the area. In 1959, they spotted a house for sale on Newtown Turnpike and bought it for pocket change, $12,000 at the time.

Eventually they would sell that house and move to one on White Birch Road, where Ms. Geismar still resides. Her husband started up an appliance business and the family grew to include two more children. All together, one son and three daughters — Odeed, Warda, Daphne and Judy.

The family loved the outdoors and enjoyed taking long walks, skiing, camping and kayaking.

Her husband left his own legacy. In 1965, he joined Weston volunteer EMS, and was chairman for 24 years. Tom Cook, member of the department, said David, was really the “rock of the organization,” when the David Geismar Community Service Award was founded in his name.

Mr. Geismar was known for responding to an incredible  volume of emergency calls and his friendly rapport with other EMTs.  As  Sandy Dadik recalls, “The first thing David would have wanted to do was have you over for dinner.”  

Ms. Geismar met Ms. Dadik when they both took EMT classes in 1980, joining EMS soon after. She is still a member, going on calls and treating patients en route to Norwalk Hospital. She also worked for 20 years in the Westport school system as a nurse’s aide and six years at Greens Farm Academy. Last year Ms. Geismar was named Weston’s EMT volunteer of the year.

Ms. Geismar is also a member of Child Survivors of CT,  a group of people who were hidden as children during the Holocaust. The group records the histories of Nazi Germany survivors. Ms. Geismar has spoken at Weston schools about her experiences.

Moving day

However, after spending almost three quarters of her life in Weston, Ms. Geismar is finally packing up and moving. With taxes increasing and the maintenance on the house, she says, “I’m not getting any younger, but I will be sorry to leave Weston.” Ms. Geismar is moving to New Haven with her son Odeed.

The move will allow her to be closer to her children and grandchildren.

Ms. Geismar says her survivor’s instincts have become molded into her every day life; she’s always trying prevent things from going wrong. Afraid of disaster, she closes every door in the house when she goes out to keep flames from spreading in case there is a fire. She pays all her bills the same day she gets them and she always keeps enough food in the house for an entire year.

“I go about doing things the right way. When I was a girl we had to do things perfectly. We didn’t want to be left on the street,” she says.

“I take my experiences with minor things and inconveniences very easily. Nothing compares to what my family went through. An illness? Don’t worry, you’ll get over it. There are more serious things to worry about,” she says.

Ms. Geismar is also well known as a fabulous cook and baker, combining the flavors of her Indonesian and Dutch backgrounds.  One of her most famous dishes is a potato salad, which she used to bring to EMS gatherings and parties.  The salad is especially good for the summer because it is made without mayonnaise and is served at room temperature.

“Mirjam used to feed anyone.  She was always having people over.  I will miss her as a colleague and friend,” Ms. Dadik said.

Mirjam Geismar's Famous Potato Salad
5 pounds small red potatoes (not the large ones)
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup regular vegetable oil
1 tablespoon salt
3 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped
1/2 cup scallions, sliced

1. Boil the potatoes, still in their skins, in a pot of water until tender.
2. Peel the potatoes while still warm and discard peels. Slice into very thin pieces and place in a large bowl.
3. Heat the chicken broth to a boil (can microwave). To the heated broth, add the oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, dill, and scallions and combine well.
4. Pour hot dressing over warm potatoes, and stir gently. Let sit at room temperature and stir occasionally so potatoes absorb the dressing.

Taste and add more salt if necessary. Serve at room temperature. It is much tastier warm than cold.


 

© Copyright 2006 by Hersam Acorn newspapers