Eliana (holocaust story)

Chapter 6

“Perach, come for a walk with me?” Baba asked me the next day after school.

I was surprised, she rarely ever wanted to go walk around. But of course, I agreed.

The wind whipped my hair around as we walked to the park, which wasn’t too far away. I didn’t want her to strain herself by walking too long or too far.

A few Gestapo officers walked past us, I tensed as usual. I looked at Baba and saw that she didn’t seem to pay any attention to them. She just looked around at the old trees without leaves and the frozen over pond.

“This pond is so beautiful.” She sighed.

“It’s really dirty.” I shrugged.

“You are letting that distract you.” She told me. “Forget the dirt for a minute and look at it again.”

I did as she said and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw that the ice was shimmering and sparkling from the reflecting sunlight.

She was right, it was gorgeous. I had just been looking the wrong.

“Maybe that’s not the only thing you need to look at again.” She said, knowingly.

Of course she’d somehow relate that back to Felix. She was so set on us getting back together. Did she not understand that we could all be discovered if I stayed with him? It was too risky and dangerous. I wasn’t willing to take those risks if it meant we’d all be sent off to a camp.

“It’s better that I didn’t keep seeing him.” I muttered, trying to convince myself.

“If you say so.” she dropped it, thankfully.

“How are you so calm around the officers?” I asked.

“I don’t want to live the remainder of my life in fear.” She explained. “Besides, like I said last night, we are still here. We can still keep fighting and we need to be thankful for that. Many others have lost their lives recently and it’s not fair for us to just throw in the towel.”

“Why can’t the rest of our family think like that?”

Things would be so much easier if we did not live in constant fear. We never relaxed completely. When we did anything, we had to consider the risks.

Right now, we were all losing hope that that could ever change.

“They haven’t realized it yet.” She sighed. “This is why I wanted you to come with me. You seem to understand what I’m saying. Besides, I don’t want to sit around and watch everyone mope around.”

Everyone was acting as if someone had died this morning. No one ate or talked too much. Aunt Tovah had still been in her room, crying.

My uncle had a very blank look in his eyes. They seemed empty and lifeless. It was as if he had been sleeping with his eyes open.

“Tobias asked me if his mom would get better.” I told her.

“What did you tell him?”

“Things will get worse before they can get better, that’s what Tziporah told me.”

“And what do you think?”

“I don’t know.”

She smiled sadly. “Right now, I don’t think anyone does know.”

Baba and I kept talking for a while before we went back home.

With Baba, I could be open. I didn’t have to censor anything with her because she knew everything. I hadn’t kept any secrets from her. It was relieving to be able to talk to someone without worrying about them finding out a secret.

Even though she still wanted Felix and I to be together, I was glad I chose to talk to her. I may have gone mad if I hadn’t.

I had decided not to tell Tziporah or David about Felix yet. Now was not a great time with the stress of the Gestapo doing searches. They didn’t need to worry any more then they already were. Especially David with his mother having a breakdown.

When we got back to the house, mama and aunt Tovah had just gotten home. They were starting to cook dinner together.

Mama looked up at us. “Everything alright?”

Like I said, it was very unusual for Baba to want to go on a walk. I would probably be asking the same question if I were her.

I knew my mom worried about Baba a lot. She was her mother so it did make sense. Times were hard, mama had lost her father. She worried about how Baba was handling it. she believed Baba was in denial or simply just ignoring the fact that he was gone.

Part of me also thought that mama was afraid that the disease that took him would claim her too.

“Stop you’re worrying, Chaya.” Baba smiled at her.

“Not possible, ma.” My mother smiled back and looked to me. “Did you finish your homework, El?”

“Not yet.” I sighed.

“Get to it then.” She instructed.

I nodded and grabbed my homework from where it lied on the floor in the living room. I went upstairs to see David in his room.

He and I normally did our homework in the living room or in his room. It was quiet in his room because Baba was normally resting. He hadn’t been in the living room so I assumed that he was in his room.

Shira and Tziporah were most likely in the cellar. Levi might be up with David. He was good at keeping quiet.

I knocked on David’s door.

“Come in!” David and Levi called in unison.

I went in and shut the door behind me. They sat on one of the beds playing cards.

“Mind if I sit up here and work my homework?” I asked.

“Go for it. you are going to hate the math work.” He warned.

“Great.” I sighed and sat on the other bed.

By dinnertime, I had finished all of my homework. I had needed David’s help with math but it went quickly.

Aunt Tovah and mama had prepared a salad and some rolls for dinner. At first, everyone sat at the table in silence but people slowly begun talking.

The conversations were about nothing big. My parents talking to us about school, Tziporah’s favorite parts of the bakery and what my father and uncle were helping build.

My uncle and aunt did not speak much. My uncle would smile at different points. Aunt Tovah just had a blank expression, but she wasn’t crying.

Everyone else was able to laugh and smile, including myself. Sometimes it was forced and other times it was not. But this was still better then the previous two nights.

Maybe things will start getting better now.

fillers are always fun, please note the sarcasm. next chapter is where the action starts picking up again.

feedback is much appreciated!

<3

Tori