『大屠殺是她的故事 Ep08 』重生

前情提要:當Hilda(Sarah的媽媽)懷了第三胎,Max (Sarah的爸爸)決定一定要離開歐洲了。他為一家人拿到了古巴簽證,接下來就是想辦法買船票了,他們會很順利地離開歐洲嗎?

終於有一天,Max成功了買到了四張船票,但奇怪的事情發生了,在要搭船離開的那天,他們卻不能登船,甚至被通知他們的船艙已經住了其他人了!這時Max這才知道,賣船票的人把船票賣了兩次,就像當時的卡車司機一樣,不擇手段地在發戰爭財啊!他們一家只好眼睜睜的看著船離開。

Sarah一家搭的船

 

Max並不氣餒,幾週後,在1941年5月,他又重新買到了船票,這次總算順利的登船,並且抵達了古巴後的12天,Sarah的妹妹Hadassah在古巴出生了!

Hadassah的古巴出生證明
Hadassah在古巴的相片 (1944)
Hadassah的古巴護照

 

對Max來說,其實古巴只是一個進入美國的跳板,只是很無奈,美國當時也不歡迎猶太人。Max一家只好繼續在古巴留下來,一留就是四年,直到1945的三月,透過美國Leo叔叔的保證,他們一家才終於入境美國。

Sarah一家人的美國簽證 (1945)
Sarah一家在美國

 

而Sarah也在美國長大,加入了美國的Bnei Akiva猶太宗教青年組織,在那裡她受到鼓勵而有了移居以色列的想法,Sarah來到以色列的奇布茲農場工作,沒想到以前認識的一個朋友在奇布茲農場上發展成老公!他們結婚後先回美國讀書和存錢,14年後,再次回到以色列的Sarah已經是三個孩子的媽媽,當時老大Yonah剛好13歲,雖然在紐約已經辦過成年禮(Bar Mitzvah),但已經住在以色列的Hadassah又為他辦了一次成年禮派對,所以大家開玩笑說他的Bar在美國,Mitzvah在以色列!

現在Sarah的孩子都長大,有16孫子和32個曾孫子,都住在以色列,也都以家族的故事為榮。

Sarah在2004年和妹妹一起寫了這本書,在拼湊各種故事時,她看見父母超乎常人的毅力和付出,若不是他們,就不會有這些美好的生命和笑容。

但更重要的是上帝的幫助,在逃離歐洲的過程中有那麼多關卡,任何一個關卡出錯,就沒有接下來的故事了。

在抵達古巴的哈瓦那幾週之後,他們聽說原來他們該搭的那艘船,在大海上被德國的魚雷打到,整艘船的乘客和船員都沉了,根本沒有抵達古巴。

就是一個接著一個的奇蹟,因為上帝的保護,才讓不可能變成可能,讓他們一家有了重生的機會。

 

“Ep08 Rebirth”

Recap: When Hilda (Sarah’s mother) became pregnant with her third child, Max (Sarah’s father) decided that they had to flee Europe.  He got a Cuban visa for his family, and the last step was to get boat tickets. Would they flee Europe successfully?

Finally, Max came home with boat tickets. However, something strange happened. On the departure day, they were not allowed on to the ship and were told that their places had already been taken! Only then did Max realize the businessman who sold him the boat tickets sold the tickets twice. He was just like the truck driver who took advantage of people in times of war! Max had no choice but to let his family watch the ship leave.

But Max was not discouraged. A few weeks later, in May 1941, he got the tickets again. This time the family boarded the ship smoothly, and 12 days after arriving in Cuba, Sarah’s sister Hadassah was born in Cuba!

For Max, Cuba was actually just a stopover to the United States, but the United States did not welcome Jews at that time. Max had no choice but to continue to stay in Cuba for four years until March 1945. It was also through the guarantee of his uncle Leo who lived in the United States that his family was finally granted entry to the United States.

Sarah grew up in the United States and joined the Bnei Akiva Jewish religious youth organization where she was inspired to have the idea of immigrating to Israel. Sarah came to Israel to work on the Kibbutz. A friend she knew from before became her husband and they got married on a kibbutz!  After they got married, they went back to the United States to study and save money. 14 years later, Sarah returned to Israel as a mother of three children. The eldest, Yonah, was just 13 years old. Although he already had his Bar Mitzvah in New York, Sarah’s sister Hadassah, who already lived in Israel, insisted on making him the second Bar Mitzvah party in Israel.  The family jokingly says that Jonah had his “Bar” in the United States and “Mitzvah” in Israel!

Now Sarah’s children are all grown up, she has 16 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren, all living in Israel, all proud of the family story.

Sarah wrote the book “Fleeing Europe” with her sister in 2004. When piecing together various stories, she saw the extraordinary perseverance and dedication of her parents. Without them, there would be no such beautiful lives and smiles of herself and her descendants.

But more importantly, it was God’s help. There were so many miracles in the process of escaping from Europe, if anything had gone wrong, the story would have ended. For example, after several weeks in Havana, Cuba, they heard that the ship they were supposed to take was hit by a German torpedo,  all the passengers and crew sunk with the ship and never reached Cuba.

It was one miracle after another, because of God’s protection, the impossible became possible, giving their family a chance to be reborn.

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