The Scarlet Letter

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bunker Waldek is building. We have to pray and hope that this war will end soon, that’s all.”(page 111).

The death of their aunt, due to an infection, increased the havoc in the bunker. The dust filled air caused many health issues amongst them. Waldek was doing the best he can to help them get through it. One night the soldiers came, they took the teenagers from the nearby bunker, but miraculously skipped over theirs; they escaped and found refuge in a nearby forest. Once again Waldek showed great strengths when he appeared to them in the woods, offering them to return, they declined but thanked him immensely for his efforts. A few days later they had no choice but to except his offer of safekeeping.

In the summer of 1944, the war front was drawing to a close, until now Waldek had remained in close connection with the family, and new acquaintances had been made. At the end of the summer the murder of Waldek by his underground friends was known, but his everlasting words of encouragement stayed with them forever.

After a surprise arrival of soldiers in the forest the family, in which Mottel was shot and injured by a German, they decided they should move on, they went to try and find their friends the hunters. This idea was not successful and they were forced to return to the forest.

At the end of 1944 the Germans were being defeated on every side. The British countries fought the Low Countries, while America battled Paris, Belgium and even Germany itself. The Red Army invaded Poland and that began liberating as they progressed.

Winter was approaching and they needed shelter, they accumulated enough materials to create one and then went on to tackle their next problem, food. They went out In search of something, found a few potatoes but none the less had great fears of being caught.

January 1945 they awoke one morning to complete chaos of German soldiers in the woods. Unsure of what to do they decided to remain in hiding till it all settled. The following day they went out and heard the news, together, they had survived the war. Even though the war was over, they were not sure how free the Jews were, yet. Papa decided he would go and try to find their old acquaintance Nalpaka, an old non-Jewish friend. He welcomed them in warmly and hosted them for six weeks, although he was doing all he can the family was not at ease, they had yet to come upon other survivors with whom they would be able to reconnect.

When their stay was becoming too much for Nalpaka, they decided to return to their house in Svosov. On the night they returned, men appeared in their yard and began firing shots, injuring Rivka, in need of serious medical care, Mamma and Mottel who accompanied her, picked up and went to Tarnow.

Remaining in Sosnov was out of the question, Papa spent many hours trying to find a new home for the family. Finally he came back with exciting news, he had found them a place to go, they were going to move to Sanz.

Sanz was a good change for them, through the hours of the day and sometimes into the night; Yiddish was heard through the walls of the house, the ground floor of the building even held a minyan. Rivka returned from the hospital and the family celebrated the holiday of Pesach like never before, they finally understood the meaning of freedom.

The freedom felt over that Pesach was short lived, before long news of murders was being spoken of; one had to bury their innocent brothers once again. Pogroms had broken out in Raisha and Krakow, they were breaking into homes and taking over control. Papa did not want their home to fall into the hands of these terrible people, he and Mottel went and gave the house to Polka, the sister of Waldek, as a token of appreciation for what he had done.

After a frightful night, Papa decided that Poland was no place for Jews anymore and he wished to go to Israel. He tried many different options, including sending some of the children to schools all alone but none were working. The three youngest sibling, Rivka, Naftali, and Yidele were sent to France, where after some time they settled and got comfortable where they were. With the house feeling big and empty, Mama was miserable, there was still talk about attacks against Jews and she wanted the whole family nearby.

Breslau, also known as Wroclaw, was the only answer to their needs. The Germans who had lived here had fled for their lives, and living there at the times were large numbers of Jews. It became a large center for Aliyah and had the largest population of Jews at the time. For a while they were being declined the rights to go to Eretz Yisroel, Papa tried doing everything he was able to, nothing was working out, but then in 1948 it actually happened, Israel became a Jewish state, they finally had a safe homeland.

Pinchas was ordered to join the polish army, knowing it would not end well he made plans to escape Europe. After an exhausting trip he was finally reunited with his younger siblings. Later on after much failed attempts Momma and Papa received exit visas and were finally reunited with the rest of the family in Eretz Yisroel.

While reading this book I have come to realize the pure hatred the goyim have for Jews without a reason. The way they have no shame, or feel any guilt while harming a human being, especially a child shows how little we should want to follow their ways. Why do we want to be like people who would have no regrets in harming us? They don’t want us to be alive on this planet, yet we want them to acknowledge our existence.

The strength that the people who went through the terrors of the holocaust, had, make us the ones who are living in freedom, look like we cannot withstand any challenge we are given. Their lives were in danger from every minute to the next, while we have all the seconds we need to do something right and we avoid it. I think that by reading the emotions they were feeling when their life could have been about to be taken, can give us a lot of strength to do more good things in this world.