Comprising two graduated cultured pearl necklaces, one of white and the other of grey cultured pearls

Metal: 14k white gold
Pearls: 30 white cultured pearls measuring from approximately 11.46 - 15.27 mm
- 33 grey cultured pearls measuring from approximately 10.09 - 14.98 mm
Marks: 585
Size/Dimensions: 42.0 cm length (white pearls); 46.5 cm length (grey pearls)
Gross Weight: 198.0 grams

Rosa Strygler (1929 – 2018), born in Krakow Poland, was the sole survivor of her Hassidic Bobover family. She escaped from the death camp in Auschwitz and made her way to America on the Ernie Pyle as part of a Children’s Transport program for orphans in 1947. She was the only one of the 60 children on board who had no one to meet her when she arrived in New York City.

In 1949, she met and married her beloved husband, Harry Strygler, and together they built his company, H. S. Strygler & Company, into one of the country's largest importers and wholesalers of pearls and colored stones. They traveled the world together and worked side-by-side until his passing in 1994. Harry’s and Rosa’s daughter, Olivia, now owns H.S. Strygler & Company.
In memory of their son, Steven, who died in 1983, the Stryglers donated a classroom and established a scholarship fund at the Park East Synagogue, created an endowment at the New York Holocaust Memorial Museum, and endowed a prenatal unit at Shaare Zedak Hospital in Israel.

Rosa served as a passionate leader of the New York City Holocaust Commission and was a founding Trustee of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan. She was devoted to education and the act of remembrance. She established the Associates Division of the Museum to engage younger generations in supporting the teaching of Holocaust history. Rosa also served as President of the American Friends of Reuth to care for the elderly and provide rehabilitative services to Israelis of all ages. Harry and Rosa Strygler were Yeshiva University Benefactors and Rosa supported many Bobov institutions as a way to honor her Bobover family roots. One such project was her sponsorship of the new Camp Gila where hundreds of Jewish girls attend summer camp in the Catskills.

In addition to her work with Jewish charities, Rosa, for a substantial period, visited young convicts imprisoned on Riker’s Island who had no visitors to advise and comfort them. To one youngster who was crying over the dreadful circumstances in which he found himself, Rosa said, "I've been in a worse place than this and I have survived and so can you." This is just one example of Rosa’s emotional support and comfort to those in trouble.

Above and beyond all of these acts of generosity and kindness, Rosa will be remembered for her infectious smile, her limitless capacity to love everyone, and her indomitable spirit and sense of joy. In Rosa’s words: “You take on this burden for me, for survivors everywhere. To remember is to create links between past and present. You must never forget, the world must never forget. For my generation, hope cannot be without sadness. Let the sadness not be without hope.”