Rachel (Abramowitz) Kazimierek, 97, of Waterbury, passed away Friday, September 18, 2026, surrounded by her loving family and caretaker. She was predeceased by the love of her life, Jacob Kazimierek, her husband for 62 beautiful years.

The only child of Sarah and Leon, Rachel enjoyed her childhood in Sosnowiec, Poland, attending school and spending time with her family. Her life was upended by the German invasion of Poland, and her family relocated to Łódź. As Lodz was converted into a ghetto, Rachel was forced to say goodbye to her parents and spent the next few years living with her aunt and uncle. Rachel was subsequently deported to Auschwitz. Through sheer will and a bit of luck, Rachel survived her time in the camp and the labor that was forced upon her in the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Having been deprived of her eyeglasses, Rachel toiled away, navigating the terror unfolding in front of her through blurred vision. With meager rations, Rachel sustained herself on dreams of her past life, always holding on to the hope that she could one day return to her family, or at the very least, a similar feeling of comfort and support. Proving to be indefatigable, Rachel survived her forced migration by foot and by cattle car to Bergen-Belsen. Shortly after her arrival, Rachel watched in disbelief as the camp was liberated.

In 1945, Rachel, through the efforts of the International Red Cross and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, found refuge in Sweden, one of the only countries that accepted refugees with tuberculosis. The Swedish Red Cross helped nurse Rachel back to life and provided her with her first pair of eyeglasses in over three years – she was finally starting to see clearly a path forward. Rachel and her fellow refugees found ways to stay positive and hopeful. She understood that she had become responsible for her own happiness. Adding Swedish to her repertoire of languages, Rachel spent the next six years integrating into her community in Jönköping. In 1951, Rachel moved to Borås to take on work as a seamstress. Rachel had regained her health, grown back the hair which had been shorn against her will, and felt ready to dream about the future. At 22 years old, Rachel’s future began with a blind date. Despite a last-minute substitution (it was a blind date after all), Rachel finally met Jacob Kazimierek and was immediately smitten. Having been interned since she was 10, Jacob was the first boy Rachel had kissed. The couple was married a few months later on November 14, 1952. They spent their honeymoon in the apartment they shared together.

Rachel and Jacob had their first child, Hannah, in December 1953 and began to consider following their friends who had moved to the United States. On May 21, 1954, Rachel, with Jacob and Hannah, boarded a Pan Am flight to New York City. The family eventually settled in Waterbury, Connecticut. Rachel subsequently gave birth to four more children: Frieda, Riva, Abe and Ruthie. While raising her children, Rachel also helped out at Jacob’s butcher shop, Brass City Beef. It was during this time, in 1961, that Rachel lost the vision in her left eye. In 1966, two years after she gave birth to her youngest child, Rachel suffered from a detached retina, resulting in total vision loss in her right eye. Just as she had over twenty-four years earlier, she refused to let her lack of vision dictate her fate. Rachel continued to help out at the butcher shop and run a tight ship at home – her children baffled by the fact that she knew when they left their rooms unkempt. Remarkably, Rachel would note this period of her life as the most difficult. An understandable sentiment considering that she had worked so hard to regain her freedom, only to be limited once again by forces outside of her control. Nevertheless, she did what she had always done: Rachel persevered. She volunteered her time at the Easterseals of Greater Waterbury and was an active member of the local chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut. Though reluctant at first, Rachel took pride in sharing her story with local students and publications. Rachel and Jacob built a life together, and she was with him when he passed in the home in which they raised their family in 2014.

Rachel was also immensely proud of her family, and looked forward to every phone call, visit and party with her relatives and friends alike. Those who knew her are able to share similar experiences. The tender embrace with which she held your hand or cupped your cheek, her way of “seeing you.” The gentle but heavily accented address of “sweetheart,” a title bestowed upon all who met her, but singularly endearing for each recipient. Some were lucky enough to walk away with a knit memento, a hobby she maintained well into her 90s. Stoic throughout the entirety of her life, Rachel would let the emotion peek through her matter-of-fact façade over the past few years. Cognizant of her mortality and what she had survived, Rachel prioritized sharing her appreciation for those around her, those who had shown her so much love and support, including her unwavering caretakers over the years, Bea and Ella, and her Guardian Angels HomeCare caregivers. She loved to remark that she harbored no hate in her heart, an objectively unbelievable claim that was ultimately validated by how she spoke of the world and the people that comprised it during her lifetime. Rachel should of course be remembered as a survivor, but also as someone who was able to move forward, to create a new life for herself, her family, her friends, and her community.

Surviving Rachel are five loving children, Hannah Lewandowski and husband Lou of Kissimmee, FL, Frieda Winnick of Bloomfield, Riva Montambault and late husband Steven of Vernon, Abe Kazimierek and wife Lori of Sacramento, CA, and Ruth Kazimierek and husband Dale Harris of New Smyrna Beach, FL; her grandchildren: Louis Lewandowski of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Lauren Kazimierek of Scottsdale, AZ, Max Kazimierek and wife Jessica of Scottsdale, AZ, Danielle Hill of Vernon, Sean Montambault of Prospect, Ariel (Winnick) Forader and husband Merrick of Simsbury, Ben Winnick and wife Olivia Thompson of Brooklyn, NY, and Sydney Winnick of Tel Aviv; and her great grandchildren: Alana Hill, Carson and Cameron Forader, and Cooper Kazimierek. Rachel also leaves behind a former son-in-law, Jeffery Winnick and a former grandson-in-law, Patrick Hill. Rachel liked to remark about her luck in life, but we, the ones who knew her, were the lucky ones.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, September 22 at 9 AM at the Emanuel Synagogue, 160 Mohegan Drive, West Hartford followed by a private burial at Hebrew Benefit Cemetery, Stillson Rd., Waterbury. Shiva will be observed at the home of Frieda Winnick on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 22-23, from 4-7 PM. Memorial donations can be made in Rachel’s memory to the Emanuel Synagogue General Fund, Voices of Hope, the Anja Rosenberg Kosher Food Pantry, or a charity of one’s choice.