『大屠殺是她的故事 Ep02 』 以色列就是我的家

我把上次的書還給Sarah奶奶，老實說若不是因為她把她的故事寫下來，很難想像眼前這麽開朗、樂觀、健談又慷慨的奶奶，會是經歷過納粹大屠殺的受害者。她在德國出生，但當時納粹德國已經禁止猶太人去醫院，所以她媽媽只能在家把她生下來，接著1938年水晶之夜，納粹摧毀了她們家的商店，抓走了她們的爸爸，只因為猶太人不可以經營商店。是她媽媽獨自拿著各國的簽證和靠賄賂去監牢把她爸爸救出來的(大多猶太人沒被救出來，就被送去集中營了)。

Sarah的媽媽媽知道他們必須離開德國，一定要趕快逃，但猶太人已經不能搭火車了，該怎麼辦？他媽想起了在比利時的親戚，他們剛好也有兩個女兒，於是他們冒了一個很大的險，讓保母帶著那兩個女兒的比利時護照來德國，然後帶Sarah和她姊姊離開，假裝他們是兩個比利時女童在德國看完病要回國。

若不是不得已，沒有一個父母會捨得讓自己的孩子離開自己的保護之外，而對Sarah和她姊姊來說，這個保姆是個陌生人，Sarah才2歲，她沒有離開過父母，她也不懂她要去哪裡，比利時又是講法文的地方，這是很可怕的事情。而比利時的親戚其實都知道被困在德國的猶太人凶多吉少，於是從一開始就把Sarah和她姊姊當孤兒在養。

接下來的故事，我下次再跟大家講，連店員都很好奇Sarah奶奶的故事。我記得我問Sarah奶奶她是在德國哪個城市出生？結果她說了一個詞，然後說：「我一點都不在乎這個城鎮，或是我出生的房子，我有一個孫子還特別去幫我找，但這根本不重要，因為以色列就是我的家。」

【你們想問大屠殺倖存者什麼問題？】

大屠殺確實發生過，Sarah奶奶已經86歲，很快的我們就不會有大屠殺倖存者親自告訴我們他們經歷的故事，所以我特別詢問過Sarah奶奶能不能接受我的錄影，讓我們能夠直接感受到她不可思議的倖存故事，而她同意了 這是一個很難得的機會，若不是因為以色列外交部提供的My story is your story 計畫，我不知道要去哪裡找一個能用英文分享大屠殺經歷的倖存者，所以我想大家一定有想要問大屠殺倖存者的問題，你們想知道什麼事情呢？她是怎麼活下來的？她父母發生什麼事？為什麼她依舊這麼樂觀？歡迎留言告訴我！

【Ep02 Israel is my home 】

The day before Israel’s Independence Day, I went to see Savta Sarah again, and this time she invited me to a cafe. She dressed beautifully, just like my grandmother who passed away. I feel that their generation knows how to dress better than my generation. I noticed that the car saw us in the distance and stopped and waited for us to cross the road, so we had to cross the road. When we walked into the coffee shop, I could feel the staff were very curious about the two of us, why would an Asian girl have coffee with a Jewish grandma?

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I returned the book Savta Sarah loaned to me, and honestly, if it wasn’t for her writing her story down, it’s hard to imagine that such a cheerful, optimistic, chatty, and generous grandma was a victim of the Holocaust. She was born in Germany, but Nazi Germany had already banned Jewish people in the hospital, so her mother had to give birth to her at home, and then on Crystal Night in 1938, the Nazis destroyed their store and arrested Sarah’s father only because Jews were not allowed to own a store. It was Savta Sarah’s mother who rescued her dad from the prison with a visa to another country and by paying a bribe. (Most Jews didn’t manage to be released and were transferred to the concentration camp).

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Sarah’s mom knew that they had to leave Germany and they had to flee as soon as possible. But the Jews could no longer take the train, what should they do? Sarah’s mom thought of their relatives in Belgium, who also happened to have two daughters. So they took a big risk and asked the nanny to bring the two daughters’ Belgian passports to Germany, and then to use them to bring Sarah and her sister out of Germany, pretending two Belgian girls went to see a doctor in Germany and were on their way home.

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No parent would be willing to let their child out of their own protection unless it was a last resort, and to Sarah and her sister, the nanny was a stranger. Sarah was only two years old. She had never left her parents, nor did she know where she was going. Belgium is a French-speaking place. It was scary for kids. The Belgian relatives knew that the Jews trapped in Germany were ill-fated, so they raised Sarah and her sister as orphans from the very beginning.�

What happened to Sarah then? I’ll tell you next time, but what I’ll say now is I remember I asked Savta Sarah in which city in Germany was she born? She told me a place and said, “I don’t care about this town or the house where I was born at all. I have a grandson who went to find it for me, but it doesn’t matter at all, because Israel is my home.”

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[What questions do you want to ask a Holocaust survivor? ]

The Holocaust did happen, Savta Sarah is 86 years old, and soon we won’t have Holocaust survivors telling us their personal stories. Therefore, I specifically asked if Savta Sarah would accept to be filmed so we that we can hear her incredible surviving story from her. And she agreed It is a rare opportunity! If it wasn’t for the My story is your story program provided by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I don’t know where to find a Holocaust survivor, especially someone who can share the story with me in English. I think you must have questions you want to ask a Holocaust survivor, so what do you want to know? How did she survive? What happened to her parents? Why is she still so optimistic? Please send me questions!