Sincerely, Marketa - A Story of the Holocaust

Chapter Six: Vienna, Austria - Summer, 1975

Heather felt a small swell of pride and confidence upon discovering, via the dictionary, that Tagebuch did indeed translate to 'diary', just as she had guessed.

            Translating Marketa's writings word-for-word was extremely tedious, but successfully translating word after word would gear Heather up for the next sentence, and the next one, and this flowed, on and on, again and again, and so she kept going until she had the whole entry translated.

January 16, 1939

Finally! Here we are! Oh, I have been waiting for this moment for so long, ever since Vera showed me her own diary and I knew I wanted one just like hers! I was so inspired by Vera keeping a diary that I saved up my money for one of my own. And now here we are! I feel so grown up using it!

Heather already found herself smiling. This girl's enthusiasm was refreshing and appreciated, especially having been around a lack of enthusiasm in her own family due to the move (with the exception of Mom and Dad).

I suppose you could say I idolize Vera. I also suppose I should tell you who Vera is: she is my cousin, and I love her! Vera and her family live in Germany, and I love it when they come to visit, or when we go to visit them. We are like sisters and best friends to each other, even though we both already have sisters and best friends of our own. 

    Vera isn't really my cousin, but that's what we call each other. Our parents are the very best of friends, and we are all like family, so she might as well be my cousin anyway!

Marketa wrote in a way that made it seem as though she were writing to Heather, speaking to her directly, or to whoever happened to be reading the diary, and that currently was Heather.

What felt like hours later of going word-for-word through the dictionary and translating it all, Heather found herself through the first couple of entries. To be perfectly honest it was exhausting, but she also felt a glow of accomplishment.

I saved up my allowance and earned enough money to buy this diary myself. Mutti says I should be proud. Vati said he would buy it for me (my parents are always so generous), but I wanted to do this for myself.  And now that I saved up and was able to do so, it feels good! And now I have a special place to put all of my thoughts, of which there are many!

Heather read the diary and explored the contents of the photo album together, having both books side-by-side, putting faces to names and getting a better sense of the places Marketa was writing about. One photo showed Marketa and Liesel lighting the candle of the Menorah for Hanukkah. At this time in the diary, Marketa was eleven years old and Liesel was eight.

The young girl's voice shone through page after page, and Heather received a sweet surprise finding that Marketa had including some drawings along with her entries:

I'm so glad to have a place to put my thoughts and feelings down!  I only wish I had it sooner so that I could write down some of the things that have been bothering me lately. However, I've never written anything like this before.

Things have changed a lot. The adults know more than us children do, as usual.  I wish I could be an adult so that I could know more.  Vera knows more than I do, understands more than me, but she says it all started in Germany, and much earlier than for us here in Austria.  It's all because of Hitler and the Nazis. I don't want to go into too much detail, I have nothing much to say about them except they're scary and mean.  Many people like them but it doesn't sound like there's much choice even if you don't.

The trouble began for our family this past year when the Nazis came here to Austria, in March.  Life was very good until they came.  We are not treated very nicely by the Nazis, us Jews, and Vera says that things are the same for the Jews in Germany.  First Vati lost his job, and then we were not allowed to go to the cinema or parks, and now we are not even allowed to go to school! I hardly see any of my friends anymore, I hate it! And we have to wear a yellow Star of David that says 'Jude' on our coats whenever we go out.  The same isn't for Vera and her family and many of our other friends, as they are not all Jewish like us.  They are lucky not to have to go through this. But we are just like them, just like everyone else, aren't we? I thought so, that's how it was before.  I don't understand.  Why are we different? It doesn't make any sense.

Whenever I ask Mutti or Vati they tell me not to worry, but I can't help it.  I'm curious, I want to know what's going on. I want things to go back to the way they were before.  It's not fair.  It's just not fair. We've been saying that a lot lately, and thinking it even more.

Sincerely, Marketa

            Heather leaned against her bed and let Marketa's words sink in. She had been doing a lot of complaining recently with the 'Big Move', and while that was a big deal for her, it seemed like nothing compared to what this girl was going through. Heather's life had been turned upside down, yes, but not as much as Marketa's.  She knew that this was only the beginning of this girl's story, and despite knowing little about this period of history she knew that, sadly, although this girl was hoping for better, things would only get worse.

__________

February 20, 1939

I used to love going out, but now I don't.  Walking anywhere is a nightmare.  People keep looking at us, their eyes drawn to the yellow star.  It's as if we live in the world of a movie, black and white, and the only thing that is coloured is the star, bright and easy to see.

And sometimes people don't just stare, but also make mean comments and tease.  I'm beginning to think, even though it's boring, it's better to stay inside.

I'm a big reader and love to read the newspapers, but lately, Mutti and Vati won't allow me to.  I know that they don't want me reading about everything that has been going on lately, which means it must be really bad, but hiding it from me is just as bad, isn't it?

It's not fair!  Why can't everything go back to the way it was?  Everyone is unhappy.

Sincerely, Marketa

        Reading more of Marketa's diary, Heather's  heart went out to this girl, living amongst all the restrictions imposed on her: not able to go certain places, having to wear the star whenever out in public, not able to even go to school and see her friends.

I know what it's like to miss your friends, she thought. Totally different contexts, but familiar feeling.

She closed the book and imagined what it would be like not being able to go to the ice cream shop or the movie theatre, and not only that, but because of who she was.  The thought was strange but it brought an uneasy feeling to her.  It just wasn't right. No one should have to imagine living like that, let alone actually experience it.