『大屠殺是她的故事 Ep1 』 第一次見猶太奶奶Sarah

當我還沒到養老院，我就看到一個奶奶笑笑的跟我揮手，她充滿活力並愉悅的介紹她住的環境，她有一個舒適的公寓，裡面又整齊又應有儘有。我很珍惜有機會能見到她，因為雖然她86歲了，但她週間活躍於當志工，以及這二十年來她到處分享大屠殺的故事，已經超過18000個以色列人和美國人聽過她家族的故事，在即將來到的大屠殺紀念日，她也會在三個地方分享，醫院、女子學院跟聖經博物館。

我知道這是非常寶貴的機會，但讓我出乎意外的，到Sarah奶奶家並不會讓我覺得是在拜訪一位大屠殺倖存者，她在桌上為我預備了果汁、糖果、逾越節期間可以吃的特製餅乾和蛋糕，那個量絕對超過一個女生可以吃的，這讓我反而有一種回到奶奶家的感覺。

Sarah奶奶借給了我一本書，書名叫做「逃離歐洲」(Fleeing Europe)，這本書是2000-2004年她和妹妹一起寫的，因為孫子們都在問大屠殺發生了什麼事？她們本來以為寫8-10頁就可以寫完了，沒想到寫成了一本書。封面有三顆星星，象徵猶太民族、納粹時期的猶太人和以色列，另一個方向是希伯來文的封面，所以一共六顆星，紀念大屠殺被謀殺的六百萬猶太人。

Sarah奶奶的父親很少提到大屠殺，因為這是很大的傷害，他算過了，至少有250個親戚就這樣被謀殺，只因為他們是猶太人。他們一家是很幸運也很不容易才活了下來，逃離了納粹佔領的歐洲，到了古巴又到了美國，她在19歲時跟Bnei Akivah猶太青年團體的朋友一起在1955年移民以色列，因為這裡是家。在這裡，她有了三個孩子，現在有了16個孫子(女)，以及28個曾孫(女)，包含今天早上又多了一個曾孫女，2.8公斤的新生兒。

我覺得能記得名字就很厲害了，要怎麼記生日？

我覺得Sarah奶奶好厲害，都記得哪個孫子和曾孫子說過什麼話，她也關心我有沒有交往對象和未來有什麼打算。

當我離開Sarah奶奶的家，我突然也好想念我去世的奶奶，然後我忍不住哭了。

我想我們可以理解的，那種藏在心裡，想念親人的情緒。記憶雖然越來越模糊，但還是想念。

今天的猶太人，許多人的祖父輩都經歷了大屠殺，包含Sarah奶奶的親戚們，連說再見都來不及，就永遠的分別了。

如果那些猶太親戚沒有被謀殺，會是什麼樣子故事呢？他們本來其實可以有未來、可以享受家庭生活的，卻只是因為他們是猶太人，他們的故事、他們的精彩，就在生命被剝奪那刻停止了，沒有後來了。

我很謝謝Sarah奶奶非常的敞開和我談論她的生活，我們共同的目標就是把這些回憶分享出來，讓世界知道大屠殺真的發生過，無辜的血就算流進土裡了也不會被遺忘。她的姊姊Susan已經過世了，她的妹妹Hadassa也有了失憶症的症狀，她自己因為前年中風，視力變得模模糊糊，腳也不太方便，但還是很獨立和活躍。

期待接下來更多與各位分享關於Sarah奶奶的故事，她的故事是我們的故事

【Ep01 My First Meeting with Savta Sarah 】

Right before Passover, I had an extraordinary afternoon visiting a Jewish grandmother Sarah Goodman in an assisted residence in Jerusalem. She is a Holocaust survivor which the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs paired me with for the My Story Your Story program. She is the protagonist of our story.

Before I arrived at her place, I saw a savta (grandmother in Hebrew) waving at me with smiles near the bus stop! She warmly and cheerfully introduced her living environment, and I soon discovered she lives comfortably in her cozy and tidy apartment that has everything inside. I cherish the opportunity to meet her because although she is 86 years old, she is quite active and busy during the week. She volunteers at different institutions and she has been speaking publicly in the past two decades about her holocaust story. More than 18,000 Israelis and Americans have heard her family’s story. In the upcoming Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) season, she will also be a speaker at 3 venues such as a hospital, the Bible museum and a women’s seminary.

Yes, it is a precious opportunity, but to my surprise, going savta Sarah’s house didn’t make me feel like I was visiting a Holocaust survivor. She prepared juice, candy, dates, and special cakes and cookies for Passover on the table for me, and the quantity was for sure way more than what a girl can eat. It makes me feel like I’m back at my own grandma’s house instead.

Savta Sarah lent me a book called Fleeing Europe, which she wrote with her sister from 2000-to 2004. They started writing because their grandchildren were asking questions about the Holocaust. In the beginning, they thought it was only for 8-10 pages, but it was a snowball effect and it became a book. The cover has three stars, symbolizing the Jewish nation, Jews in the ghetto, and Israel. When you open the book and see the other cover, you see six stars in total for honoring the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust.

Savta Sarah’s father rarely mentioned the Holocaust, because it was too painful. He counted that at least 250 relatives were murdered just because they were Jews. The family was lucky to survive but it was nothing easy to escape from Nazi-occupied Europe to Cuba and then to the United States. Savta Sarah immigrated to Israel in 1955 at the age of 19 with friends from the Bnei Akivah, a Jewish youth group. Why Israel? Because it is home.

Now she has three children, 16 grandchildren, and 28 great-grandchildren including one great-granddaughter who was born this morning, weighing 2.8kg.

“So you are celebrating birthdays every month?” I think it’s amazing that Savta Sarah even remembers all their names.

“Yeah! I’ve been very busy this month! But I’ve written all their birthdays on the computer. I give cash to newborn babies and gifts for their birthdays.”

I am amazed by Savta Sarah. She remembers what her grandchildren and great-grandchildren said. She also cares about whether I am seeing someone and seemed satisfied knowing what plans we have in the future.

When I left Savta Sarah’s house, I suddenly missed my grandma who passed away years ago, and I started crying. I think we can understand there are hidden feelings in our hearts but we as human beings miss our loved ones. Although the memory is getting blurry, we still miss them.

Most Jews today have grandparents or relatives who had to experience the Holocaust, including Sarah’s relatives. They did not have a chance to say goodbye, and they parted forever. But they could have their own lives and stories, they could actually have a future and enjoy family life, except they were murdered because they were Jews. All these were taken away.

I am very grateful to Savta Sarah for being very open about her life with me. Our common goal is to share these memories so that the world will know that the Holocaust really happened and that innocent blood will not be forgotten even if it sheds into the ground. Savta Sarah’s older sister Susan has passed away, and her younger sister Hadassa now has symptoms of dementia. She herself suffered from a stroke the year before, so her left eye doesn’t see well. And she uses a cane or three-wheelers to help her move around, even though she is still independent and active.

“But you waved at me when you saw me coming! How did you know it was me?”

“Because there was no bus for a while, and then I saw a girl with long hair walking towards me. If it wasn’t you, beseder, I’ll just be a friendly old lady who wants to say hello!”

I look forward to sharing more stories about Grandma Sarah Her story is our story.


#mystoryyourstory