If I had known what the next six years of my life were going to
be like, I would have eaten more.
I wouldnt have complained about brushing my teeth, or taking a
bath, or going to bed at eight oclock every night. I would have
played more. Laughed more. I would have hugged my parents and
told them I loved them.
But I was ten years old, and I had no idea of the nightmare that
was to come. None of us did. It was the beginning of September,
and we all sat around the big table in the dining room of my
familys flat on Krakusa Street, eating and drinking and talking:
my parents, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, and me, Jakob
although everybody called me by my Polish name, Yanek.
The Jews must disappear from Europe. Thats what Hitler said,
Uncle Moshe said, reaching for another pastry. I dont know how
much more clear he could be.
I shivered. Id heard Hitler, the German fuehrer, give speeches on
the radio. Fuehrer meant leader in German. It was what the
Germans called their president now. Hitler was always talking
about the Jewish menace and how Germany and the rest of Europe
should be Jew free. I was a Jew, and I lived in Europe, and I
didnt want to disappear. I loved my house and my city.
The British and the French have already declared war on him, my
father said. Soon the Americans will join them. They wont let
Germany roll over all of Europe.
