The horrors of past persecutions live deep within where ever we go, as though we were a single entity.
persecution came as did the seasons. in this season the oppressors would not include the right of life. the right to walk upon the earth.
Our instincts were basic. the same as any other human being. to survive.
now survival would be harder,though we had no choice, and had to go on until the downfall of hitler and his nazi party.
surely something so monstrous could not last. a year at most. then a coup would ensue and the hitler government overthrown. restoration of a reasonable democratic government in germany would prevail.
this did not happen. the nazi reign of insanity lasted twelve years.
A third of europe's jews were dead. three out of four in poland alone.
in 1933 germany turned into a topsy-turvey world.
in january of that year, president paul von hindenburg appointed adolph hitler, reich chancellor.la heartbeat from the presidency.
nazi soldiers paraded in the streets carrying cumbersom torches. lights reached forever up to the stars.
thousands of people stood on the sidewalks.. women crying, people laughing, all waving tiny imitations of huge red, white and black banners, which hung from tops of buildings..
the architecture of each building was lost in blood red.
shades of things to come.
paqpa, ani and i watched as the torch bearers marched, a never ending line of men. a living swastika. mesmerizing.
even we, as jews, were caught up in the pagentry.
caught up as hitler took the podium. caught in his web as he spoke.
his gestures magnified his words.
with each 'hiel', excitment grew, yet when he spoke, one could hear a pin drop.
we heard the words. the jews were the enemy within. it had been our fault germany lost the war. our fault there had been a war.
our fault germany signed the treaty of versallies, their ultimate humiliation.
we,collectively, stabbed germany in the back. we the traitors, foreigners in our country.
hitler promised if the world were to go to war again, the jews would be to blame, and we all would suffer the consequence.
we heard. but we did not listen.
some began leaving germany. papa told anika they were foolish, after all, jews had lived in germany for over one thousand years.
"hitler is vying for attention. suerly nothing herr hitler threatened would come to pass. we are a great part of germany, nothing will happen to any of us."
father seemed so sure. so sure, but maybe he had been whistling past the graveyard.
i had an uneasy feeling as hitler spoke.
the crowd went wild.
light from the torches bounced off my smooth face, shone dimly, then flashed a bright light.
ani, breathing deeply, moved to and fro, feeling faint was suffocating in the deep recesses of woolen coats and uniforms surrounding her small frame.
"papa, papa', she cried, "i can't breath, can't catch my breath.l"
hershel turned to see her face, wet with perspiration, eyes rolling back. her lids fluttered like butterfly wings.
"ani," he shouted as she fell into the crowd.
he picked her up in his massive arms cradling her head with a large hand.
hershel moved swiftly through the crowd.
when at last we were blocks from the rally site papa sat ani down on a low stone retaining wall. he sat next to her, his arm around her small waist."are you alright ani?"
he took her small face in his hand and turned it towards him to see for himself.
"i..yes, i think so papa.''
her breathing, shallow now, and searching her father's face with her mother's eyes, she again whispered to him, suddenly, "i am frightened father, so very frightened."
''ani, my ani,'' he enveloped her to his chest,, her face pushing against it. "don't , don't be frightened, sh, sh, sh, everything will be alright, it will you will see. don't cry don't cry.'' he rocked her gently there on the stone wall.
they sat this way for some time.
it was quiet now. the rally and shenanigans were over, or so we thought.
as hershel and ani rose to walk home, they could hear harsh voices not far from where they stood.
a sound of glass breaking, a bottle of spirits most probably.
''come baby, time to go home, school tomorrow."
