"The year was 1939, I lived in the town of Oswiecim back in Poland. The hot sun was still blazing in the sunset. My mother, Talia, my twin sister, Adele, and I were in the living room with my aunts and uncles having a small get-together party. My mother said father went out to buy a few late minute things for the reunion and wasn't back yet. The household was filled with joyous laughter of adults and young children chasing after each other. A large dinner accompanies the extra space on the table.
Unexpectedly, the room filled laughter and chatter ceased at the shouts and shrieks outside the house. I watched as people ran down the streets, their faces contorted into fear with tears escaping the eyes and shrieks that ripped through their throats. Small streaks of lights from the lamppost hit minuscule pieces of broken glass that covered their shoes. No matter how many terrified people of our safe town ran down the streets, I never saw my father with them. Rushing quickly from the distress erupted in the streets of Oswiecim.
My aunt switched on the television in our living space. The loud yelling and commands of Adolf Hitler scorched the walls like fire from a small flame. His speech left ringing in my ears from the vicious words he spoke that left an unforgettable memory.
"Today I will once be a prophet: If the international Jewish financiers in and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be the Bolshevization of the earth, and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!"
My whole family stood stunned in the very home I was raised in. My mother took a step outside to see what was going on. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth in shock. I stepped out next to her to see the destruction of window panes from the shops down the streets. Shattered glass swept through the empty streets, almost making the town look as though it was an abandoned ghost town. Some of the panes that were intacted had a very white star that represents my religion.
A few shopkeepers that didn't run came out of their shops with brooms in their hands ready to clean up the broken glass. My mother grabbed my hand and dragged me inside.
"Go get ready for bed, sweetie, you have to get ready for school in a few days" She mumbled. I could hear the fear in her voice that she tried to hide with a smile. I nodded my head and complied with her wishes, walked up the stairs and into my room.
I woke up to my sister pushing at my shoulders in a haste. She practically dragged me out of my bed so I was standing on the cold, hardwood flooring of our rooms. She had damp streaks down her puffy red cheeks like she had been crying intensely for hours.
"What's wrong Adele? Where's mother?" I gently placed my arms around her.
"There's..." She sniffs "People walking down the s-s-street with these men with red slash thingies on their arms! They have weapons and their f-forcing everyone to go somewhere" She exclaimed in one single breathe
"Where's mom, Adele?" I looked into her light blue eyes searching for an answer
"She is the living room"
I raced down the stairs with my sister's hand in mine. I saw my mother looking out the window with her arms crossed over her chest, watching the people of the town walk towards an unknown location.
"Where are they heading mother?" I ask
"I think the railroad tracks" She looked back at us, fear swarmed in her forest-green eyes and her dark brown hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in days the more her fingers dishevel it.
A loud knock sounded at our door. My mother cautiously walked over to the door, reacher for the golden knob and hesitantly pulling the door open. On the other side stood one of the men outside in uniform with a red slash symbol on his right bicep.
"C-can we help you" My mother stuttered
"Get in line with the rest of your kind, or else..." He growled lowly and reached behind his back.
"What's going on?" She shook her head.
The man pulled out a silver and dark brown pistol and pointed it to her.
"Get. In. Line!" He demanded
My mother grasps our trembling hands on her own, leading us through the doorway. I looked at the very man with the gun for a second from the corner of my eye but once his monotone eyes met mine, I ripped my eyes away from him and looked down to the little stone walkway from our house to the street. We joined the group of walking Jews in the streets of our peaceful town. I watched some of the men around us, specifically how they walked or rather marched...
They swung their legs high and yet kept it straight and stiff. It almost looked painful but with their stone faces, no feeling revealed.
"Okay...Mom needs you both to hold your hands and not let go! Understand?" My mother articulates uneasily. I nod aggressively to her and grab my sister's hand.
Ahead of us were about 30 or more cattle cars on the train tracks. We were all broken up into lines, fortunately, I was able to stay with my twin sister but my mother had to go to another line. Some people shook violently, others screamed and begged for their questions to be answered, and a very few stayed completely silent as they looked at the lines than to the cattle cars that rested on the rail tracks. It felt like hours before we were next to get into the large cattle cars. I held onto Adele's hand as my life depended on it. Almost like if I let go, I would never see her again.