『大屠殺是她的故事 Ep04 』 大屠殺之前的生活 Life Before the Holocaust

當他到了適婚年齡，他被介紹給一個小他8歲的女生 Hilda，她也是從波蘭來的猶太人，但是是在德國出生的。Hilda和她的爸媽和奶奶很快地就到男方家見男方父母，然後就順利訂婚了。他們結婚時Max 26歲，而Hilda 18歲。

兩年後，第一個女兒在德國Dortmund出生了，她的名字是Susan。又再四年後，因為德國已經在1935年頒布了紐倫堡法案（Nuremberg Laws)，猶太人受到了各種限制，包含不能在醫院出生小孩。Hilda當時只能在家生老二，所以小Susan就被送走6週。她不懂為什麼媽媽要把她送走，這是她人生第一個創傷。

1938年，Susan六歲了，她終於可以去上小學了。但幾週後，她被學校趕走，原因又是因為紐倫堡法案不允許猶太人上學…. 後來長大後Susan才說她不懂為什麼不能上學，她只覺得是她的錯。

接著就是發生在11月9號的水晶之夜(Kristallnacht)，這個名字的由來是因為街道上都是被納粹德國打碎的玻璃。那晚，也是Susan先醒來，她聽到有些奇怪的聲音，於是就去叫爸媽起床。她爸爸直覺抓了一件冬天的大衣，後來她媽媽說這件大衣救了他，因為沒有人知道納粹德國竟然馬上就衝進來，逮捕她爸爸到監牢，當時天氣非常冷，而她爸爸被捕的原因只因為他是猶太人，而根據紐倫堡法案，猶太人不允許擁有商店。

突然之間，商店被毀了，一家之主被抓走了，Sarah和Susan的媽媽只有26歲，帶著6歲和2歲的小娃，而她自己的爸媽已經移民到當時的巴勒斯坦。她無依無靠，下一步該怎麼辦？ (故事待續)

Everything starts in the small town of Mikuliczyn in Poland, where Sarah’s father Max was born in 1904. The world was suffering from economic depression after World War I, Max was one of the four children and was therefore sent to their uncle in Germany at the age of 16 to learn a trade. He quickly learned tailoring, and began sending money he earned back home.

When it was time to find him a match, he was introduced to Hilda, a nice Jewish girl from Poland just like Max except she was born in Germany. Hilda, her parents and grandmother visited Max’s family in Poland and they were soon engaged. Max was 26 years old and Hilda was 18 years old when they got married.

Two years later, their first daughter, Susan, was born in Dortmund, Germany. Four years later, because Germany had announced the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, Jews were subject to various restrictions, usage of the hospital including delivering babies was forbidden. Hilda had to deliver her second child at home, so little Susan was sent away for 6 weeks. She did not understand why she was sent away, this was her first trauma in life.

In 1938, when Susan was six years old, she could finally go to elementary school. But a few weeks later, she was kicked out of the school, again because the Nuremberg Laws did not allow Jews to go to school… Later in life, Susan said she didn’t understand what was going on, she just thought it was her fault.

Then came the Kristallnacht, which took place on November 9 in 1938. The street was filled with glass smashed by Nazi Germany, hence the name. That night, Susan woke up first. She heard some strange noises, so she went to wake up her parents. Her father instinctively grabbed a winter coat, which her mother later said was what saved him. No one knew that Nazi Germany was rushing in right away, arresting people to jail! It was very cold outside and her father was arrested for being Jewish. Under the Nuremberg Laws, Jews were not allowed to own shops.

Suddenly, the head of the family was arrested, shop was wrecked, Sarah and Susan’s mother was only 26 years old then, with two girls aged 6 and 2, and her own parents had immigrated to what was then Palestine. She was helpless, what should I do next? (Story to be continued)