To say that Lydia Sarfati, the internationally renowned skin-care expert, has mixed emotions about her homeland constitutes an understatement. The Polish-born founder of Repêchage has a deeply ingrained love of Polish food, music and culture. Conversely, although the naturalized American still refers to herself as a “Polish Jew” without hesitation, she bears scars from a forced exodus three decades ago that have only recently begun to heal.
In one sense, Sarfati hasn’t looked back to her native land. In 1980, she took a novel concept, primarily the use of natural products such as seaweed, and turned a corner beauty salon with four employees into a multi-million dollar business with almost 700 employees and affiliates worldwide. She also introduced the concept of the “four-layer” facial, which streamlines and demystifies the skin-care process.
“No one was talking about packaging in the ’70s,” said Sarfati. “No one was making an effort to really explain the procedures. My motto was ‘keep it simple, stupid.'”
And toss some seaweed in, as well.
“By 1978, I knew that seaweed would be my game,” the aesthetician recalled. “I saw what was being done with it in France as an agricultural enhancer. I knew that it was among the richest of all the trace elements in vitamins and that it was easy to harvest from an ecological point of view, because it didn’t depend on the richness of soil to grow and could go very rapidly.”
As seaweed piqued curiosity, so did Repêchage. Raised eyebrows and strange looks were replaced by long lines of people eager to replenish their skin’s vitality with natural ingredients. And Sarfati gradually expanded the scope of her business philosophy, incorporating breathing exercises, diet and relaxation techniques into the beauty-care world.
But even given all of her accolades, which include being featured in the New York Times, CNN, Vogue, Mademoiselle and being named by Salon News as “one of the most influential women in the skin care industry,” Sarfati knows where much of her drive and entrepreneurial spirit comes from: Poland.
But before the 50-year-old explained the narrative that led up to her departure from her Eastern European roots in 1969, she wanted to clear up what she considered popular misconceptions about Poland.
“The biggest myth that Americans have is that Poland has always treated Jews horribly,” said Sarfati in a phone interview from her New York home that was continued while traveling in Poland. “All throughout the middle of the last century, Poland was a refuge for Jews from all over the world. They came from Spain, France and Germany, and all over the world. Why do you think that Poland had three-and-a-half million Jewish residents before World War II?
“The scars of anti-Semitism were created by the Germans. Everyone wants to hate the Polish people, but it was the Germans who decided what the fate of European Jewry would be, not the Polish government. In fact, Poland was one of the very first governments to recognize the state of Israel in 1948.”
Moreover, Sarfati said that Jewish life in her hometown of Legnica and throughout Poland thrived until the communist revolution swept through Europe during the late ’60s. “Poland had a very socialist ethic when I was growing up,” she recalled. “There was a great awareness of Jewish culture and heritage, and Jewish professionals were visible in the top levels of society. But that all ended with the Six-Day War.”
The 1967 war, in which Israel won a resounding victory over its Arab foes, was deemed a “David vs. Goliath” victory in America and in many parts of the world. Not so in Poland, where Sarfati said that the communists, who were dependent on Arab oil and who supplied many Arab countries with military equipment, came down heavily on its Jewish population. Sarfati said that the newly installed communist government issued the Polish Jewish population identity cards, and Jewish residents had to comply with curfews. It was all too eerily similar for Sarfati’s parents, who had lost the majority of their relatives during the Holocaust.
Still, the decision to leave Poland in winter 1969 was not an easy one. The move to the United States “crushed my parents’ souls,” Sarfati said, and the move was equally as emotional for the then-18-year-old. Sarfati recalls an encounter that defined her experiences in the months leading up to her family’s departure. Her favorite teacher, a professor of Polish history, had always instilled in his students an appreciation of Polish culture and a sense of patriotism. When the teenager approached him about the anti-Semitism of the new government, the instructor placed his hand on her shoulder and told her to “leave quickly and never look back.”
“I cried and cried for days,” said Sarfati, who still has trouble discussing the circumstances of her departure without becoming emotional. “I think he was just as let down as I was. We both believed in the greatness of Poland as a country. It was like the rug was being pulled out from under you.”
When Sarfati went back to her country of birth for the first time, it was by accident. When David, her Israeli-born husband and vice president of Repêchage, planned a surprise vacation in 1994, Sarfati was thrilled up until the point when she finally asked where they were going. By the time he answered “Poland,” they were already in line for tickets, and although Sarfati “totally flipped out,” she eventually relented.
The trip provided closure for 25 years of bittersweet memories and emotional scars. Sarfati now makes regular trips to the country — but the pain still tugs at her.
“The memories of my homeland will never be removed from the makeup of who I am,” said the mother of two who attends an Orthodox Sephardic shul in New York. “That’s where I was born and raised. And every time I go back there, I feel like I’m in a scene from (the comedy film) ‘Revenge of the Nerds.’
“I want to say, ‘Look at what I’ve become. Look at who I am now. How could you not want all these brains, and abilities, and civic contributions? How could you not want me?'”