There Will Be Tomorrow: A Memoir by Guta Goldstein

Author:Guta Goldstein [Goldstein, Guta]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2016-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

33

A Silent Witness — Lodz Ghetto 1941

A FEEBLE, yellow flame flickered in the oil lamp casting shadows on the ice-covered walls of the small room. The ice, caught in the flame of the lamp, sparkled mercilessly and glistened wet and hostile where the shadows fell. The room had not been heated throughout that long, cruel winter. There was no fuel. Everything burnable had been long burnt the winter before.

The only furniture left in the room were two single, brass beds and a set of low, white, wooden children’s table and chairs; the remainder of other, happier times.

Two children shared one bed; their father lay ill in the other. He was a young man in his thirties whose body had become emaciated through lack of nourishment. There was no food and to add to his suffering, water from the melting ice on the roof, was dripping drop by persistent drop through the cracks in the ceiling on to the bed, saturating the bedclothes. Even this indignity was not spared him.

The children were awakened by moans and they listened helplessly to their father’s anguish. He called for help. It was difficult and painful for him to breathe. He called for his mother. He needed her but she was so far away; she was in Palestine. She lived there. I often wonder if she heard her son’s desperate calling in his hour of need. In desperation, gasping for breath, he sent the elder of his children for help to his sister who lived on the first floor of the front building across the courtyard.

In the dead of night, the child, alone and frightened (she was always frightened of the dark) crossed the deserted courtyard on her sad mission. Shining brightly, high, so high in the dark blue sky, was a full moon. This silent witness, illuminating the silent dark courtyard, accompanied her.

Golda, the children’s aunt and their father’s sister, came immediately accompanied by her only daughter Inka. They looked after the children, made the father as comfortable as possible and moved his bed away from the dripping water. They kept vigil until morning.

A doctor was called and he diagnosed pneumonia. He regretted that there was nothing he could do. He had no medicine to give. There was no medicine. There was no hope. Aunty Golda and Inka stayed all day and looked after the sick man and his children; they remained with them all night.

With dawn came despair. The father was very ill. Furthermore, the crack in the ceiling had spread. The water was again leaking on to the sick bed. It was dripping everywhere and receptacles were out all over the room to contain it. It was decided to move the father to his sister’s place.

Later in the morning, with the help of some neighbours, their father was moved and settled into aunt’s bed. The bed stood alongside a wall. When the children were brought in, he indicated for them to come closer. Holding hands, the two children approached the bed and stood there very quietly and very still.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.