She Survived the Holocaust and Built a Binghamton Business; Now She Needs Our Help

A community member reached out to tell me about a woman whose name still lights up for many longtime Binghamton residents. Anita Brezak spent nearly 30 years running the China Closet on Clinton Street, the antique shop credited with launching what locals came to call the city's "antique row." If you ever spent an afternoon browsing that stretch of Clinton Street for something old and beautiful, chances are you wandered into her shop at some point.

A Childhood Marked By Persecution And War

Anita was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1930. She was still a child when Nazi persecution tore through her family's life because of their Jewish ancestry. She and her mother made it through the war years in Frankfurt while so much of the world around them collapsed. In 1948, Anita left Germany alone at just 18 years old, arriving in the United States, teaching herself English, and eventually earning her American citizenship.

Decades Of Work Built A Binghamton Life

According to her family, Anita spent decades building her life in America through steady, hard work. She got her start mixing paint at Philadelphia Sales, then spent roughly 17 years at the Grants department store, climbing her way up to credit manager. From there, she worked another four years as a credit manager for Spiegel's, followed by a stretch in the collections department at the Binghamton Press.

Around 1972, Anita and her husband, Charles "Charlie" Brezak, a retired barber and owner of Charlie's Barber Shop, opened the China Closet together. The antique shop stayed a Clinton Street staple for nearly three decades before the couple retired in 2001. Charlie passed away in 2010; his obituary remembers the two of them as longtime owners of the China Closet. Over their years running the shop, the two of them got to know generations of customers, collectors, families and fellow business owners across the Binghamton area.

Renaturalized After Nearly Eight Decades

In a post shared on Instagram last year, Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham described meeting Anita and learning that she lost her German citizenship when she left the country for the United States in 1948. Nearly 80 years later, the German government renaturalized her, and Mayor Kraham presented Anita with her certificate of naturalization at City Hall, surrounded by family members who traveled from as far as the United Kingdom to be there. The mayor called hearing Anita share her life story one of the most meaningful moments of his time in office.

A Fall Changed Everything

Anita continued living independently in the home she and Charlie had shared until a bad fall a few weeks ago landed her in the hospital. She's expected to be discharged soon, but according to her family, her home isn't currently safe for her to return to, and she'll now need round-the-clock help with mobility, transfers, personal care and overnight safety.

Her family says they're working with Medicare, Medicaid and local aging-service agencies to build a long-term care plan, but they've hit delays and gotten conflicting information as they've been shuffled between agencies. Finding private care hasn't been much easier, with agencies oversubscribed and short-staffed, and some caregivers reluctant to work in the Murray Street area over safety concerns.

Having explored home care options for my own grandmother, I know firsthand that this kind of care comes at a steep price, and that finding it can be just as exhausting as paying for it.

How The Community Can Help

To help bridge the gap while a long-term care plan comes together, Anita's family has started a GoFundMe. They're asking for support from anyone who remembers Anita or the China Closet, or who's simply moved by her story, to help cover caregivers, medical equipment, transportation to appointments, and other care costs during this stretch.

Anita's daughter, Michelle, and her grandson, Christopher, a healthcare worker, are acting as her advocates throughout this process.

Anita survived one of the darkest chapters in human history as a child, crossed an ocean alone at 18, built a business that shaped a corner of Binghamton, and reclaimed the citizenship that was taken from her nearly 80 years ago. Her family just wants this chapter of her life to be safe, at home, and surrounded by the community she's known for decades.

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You can find and share Anita's fundraiser here: gofundme.com/f/help-anita-stay-safe-and-loved-at-home