The Ungrateful One

The Ungrateful One

Vera Derer’s parents, Lily and Ferdinand Lewisohn, really ought not to have had children, but in those days social convention was very powerful and expectations had to be met.   They had two children, Ronnie and Vera.  They favoured Ronnie.  They called Vera “the ungrateful one”.   They owned a shoe shop but did not give Vera good shoes so her feet ended up rather misshapen.  The children had to hide up if they were unwell, as illness was deemed unacceptable.

When Vera was grown up, Lily and Ferdy still behaved somewhat outrageously.  They lived close to Vera and her husband Vladimir, and one CLPD activist has remarked on their sense of entitlement: they would phone up and expect Vladimir to ferry them around.  Lily was the worst offender.  She would leave yellow ‘post-it’ notes around Vladimir and Vera’s house stating “could be cleaner” etc.    Lily once told Vladimir that because of the life insurance policy attached to his mortgage he was worth more dead than alive.  This observation did not go down well.

At least Lily was just as outrageous to others.  At one point Ferdy felt he had misled the taxman and had not paid enough tax.  He started to panic.  Lily replied: “Ferdy, do me a favour: go to prison”.   On another occasion Ferdy lightly suggested that the family pay a visit to the countryside.  Lily pointed to the rural design on the kitchen curtains. “See that?” she snapped, “That’s the Lewisohn countryside”.  Once she gave the rabbi a ham sandwich and passed it off as salt beef, the cleric remarking that it was the best salt beef he’d ever tasted.