Emma’s Dangerous Escape
“Mom, I can’t take it anymore. I’m really hungry and I am so tired of working all day,” I said.
Our family had been driven out of our house into a concentration camp for Jews. In order to survive and receive a small amount of food, we were required to do harsh physical labor. Since the day they had taken us out of our house by force, I finally figured out why they underfed us at this camp. They thought we would be tired if we didn’t have enough energy from food and therefore it would be harder to escape. Obviously, they thought wrong. I had a strong feeling that my mom and I would escape out of that horrid place in no time. How did we plan this? I don’t know, but Ann, my mom knew what to do.
“Don’t worry, Emushka, we will be out of here in no time,” my mom said, whispering softly.
“But how? There are two Germans standing next to us with rifles by their side,” I asked, whispering quietly.
That’s when I saw my mom in her unusual thinking mood, trying to find a way out.
“Emushka, I’ve got it, first I will flirt with the German who is drunk, and then I will steal his gun. That is when your queue is, to start running away, but if by any odd chance one soldier starts shooting at you, hide behind a tree for protection,” said my mom. “I will try to meet up with you later, think about an aunt’s house, and good luck.”
She went up to the drunk German and started flirting. She waved her hand at him, smiled deeply, and gave him the love look.
“Oh, my mother is a great actor!” I mumbled quietly to myself.
Then, while the drunk German was bragging to his partner, I saw her steal his rifle. That’s when I started running; I ran like the speed of the wind. When the two Germans finally saw me, they were about to shoot at me, but they realized the drunk German’s rifle was missing. They looked at Ann and saw the rifle was in her hands.
She stopped them and said, “Don’t shoot at her, or I will shoot both of you!”
“My partner will not shoot, if you promise to give me back my gun,” said the drunk German.
“All right,” said Ann, lying.
Instead of handing him the rifle, she slapped the drunkard in the face and started running with the rifle in her hand for protection. Ann ran in the other direction from where I was hiding. She was afraid that if the two Germans went in my direction, they would find both my mom and I. This way, if they chose to chase us, they could only catch one of us.
As I walked deeper and further into the forest, I stopped looking over my shoulder to check for Germans. In the forest, there stood many beautiful plants and trees. I saw sharp dark green bushes, full of red raspberries. The sight of this made my mouth water. I heard the sweet chirp of a bluebird singing his or her heart out. Oh how strong and magical the odor of the oak trees is. It is among the things I shall never forget.
I sang to myself, “I am a lonely blond headed girl in the forest who is starving and worrying about my mother, la la la la la.” I had always thought of how life would be with freedom. Freedom was a word that filled me with joy and happiness, whenever the thought came in my mind. This thought, freedom, was what I had thought I would never receive, but I dreamt I would.
All of a sudden I stopped, because I heard a stick crack near me. I turned around, looking to see if a German soldier had found me. Instead, a few feet behind me, there stood a beautiful girl about the same age as me. Perhaps this girl was a German spy or a soldier seeking Jews who ran away in the forest to turn them in? I doubted it. This girl was in ragged clothes, and her hair was just as messy as mine. I stepped a few feet closer to her. She signaled with her finger for me to come even closer.
We both sat on the grass beneath us and introduced ourselves. I told her that my name was Emma, my last name was Ginsberg, and I was 12 years old. She told me that her name was Sarah, her last name was Trotsky, she was also 12, and she used to live in Belarus, Ukraine. She asked where I lived before the Germans took me away from my house, and I told her that I lived on Observatory St. in Odessa, Ukraine. Sarah asked if I were an only child, who my parents were, and if they were still alive. I told her that I had no siblings, and my mother was living. I told her that I didn’t know if my father, Sasha, was still alive because we were separated at the camp. After I said that, I started worrying about my father, too. I had so many questions to ask him! We both agreed with each other that it wasn’t fair for Jews to have a harsh life, compared to other non Jews. Sarah was about to ask another question when I interrupted her and told her that I was too tired to answer any more questions. That was partially a lie, because I could’ve still answered questions, but I did not want to waste all my energy in one day.
From that point on, I could see we were going to be great friends. Not just friends, but BEST friends. We both went to sleep on the dry grass. I dreamt of a way to get out into the city and reunite with my nicest and favorite relative, Aunt Galina. I knew she lived close to here, maybe about 35 miles away, a 12 hour walk. That’s it, that’s my path to freedom.
I woke up about 8 hours later. I woke up Sarah. She was very cranky when she finally woke up and wanted an explanation. I told her that I had a great plan. I explained to her that my Aunt Galina’s house was about 35 miles north from where we were. We could walk to her house in about 12 hours and in the middle of our trip stop for a nap. Therefore, our whole trip would take a full day. That was how our journey began.
We set out about half of an hour later. We walked at a very slow pace. Every now and then we would stop to stretch and work out our cramps. It was a fall day and about 60 degrees. I felt like I was going to freeze to death. I wonder how my mom was doing, if she was still alive, and where she was.
We were only walking for about 12 hours when my feet went numb, and I couldn’t walk any more. I suggested that we take a nap. Sarah agreed, and we went to sleep. I dreamt about my mom, that she would someday meet up with me, and where we would go then. What would happen to Sarah? I would fell really sad if I left her. Not only does she not have any family left, but she would not have anyone to take care of her if she got sick or didn’t feel well. That’s when the idea struck me! If I ever got to Aunt Galina, if she let us, my mom, Sarah, and I could all live together at her house. If not, well, I’d think of another plan. Sarah woke me up. I got up slowly and cautiously. We both gathered our belongings and started on our path to freedom. Freedom is what all people want, but sometimes they don’t try enough to actually receive it. Freedom was what I wanted since the time I was born! My chance came and I took it, just like Hatshepsut, the Egyptian pharaoh ruler. She took her chance to grasp the reigns of authority and power.
With no food in our stomach, I felt empty and tired, even though I had slept for 12 hours.
“I’m so hungry!” said Sarah with a groan.
“I am to, so please don’t remind me about hunger.” I said. As we continued walking through the forest, we stumbled on top of a huge tree branch. I wanted to scream in pain, but I didn’t because the Germans might follow my faint scream and capture us.
“Owe, my knee hurts,” Sarah whined.
“Well, you’re just going to have to live with it, the same way I lived with all my other problems on this journey.
I desperately missed my mother and father. I never realized how hard life was without parents. About 5 hours passed and Sarah started feeling ill. Her forehead was hot, much hotter than mine. I figured she was running a high fever. Nearby was an icy cold river. I walked toward it with Sarah. I told her to cup her hands and pour the cold water onto her forehead. As she did, I felt her forehead and her fever faded away. We rested and then began the rest of our journey.
Both Sara and I were excited that our journey was close to an end.
“We are almost there!” I whispered disbelief evident in my tone.
“I know, but I am really scared!” Sarah said.
“What is there to be scared about? You should be happy we are finally going to have a comfortable place to sleep and food to fill our empty stomachs!” I said.
“I don’t really want to talk about this while I am scared, okay!” Sara said with small tears coming out of her eyes.
“Okay, but whatever the reason is, I hope you feel better about it,” I said.
We saw sunlight ahead of us, and the city called Derybafifskie. Whenever I had passed the streets in Odessa, I would sometimes see non Jews. I had always thought of how much more stuff I could do, if I were a non Jew. I had never understood why Jews were not treated as equal as other races. Now, I am as close to receiving freedom, as when I had kissed my mother goodnight every night. I am so excited, that my dream had almost become true. This was the city where Aunt Galina lived. A few minutes later, we were walking in the city’s streets. Everything was so beautiful, compared to the horrid camp. We walked to Aunt Galina’s bakery and were standing in front of the store. There we saw her and her husband.
“Wow, they have aged a lot more since I visited them a year ago,” I whispered softly to Sarah.
“Ya right, they seem much younger than my Aunt Liza who is 48 years old and my Uncle Yigorivich who is 50!” Sarah said while giggling.
“My aunt Galina is 55 years old and my uncle Gabriel is 60 years old,” I said.
The second we both stepped in, they hugged and kissed me. I explained to them that Sara was my best friend who also escaped from the camp. Both of her parents were dead and she was the last of all of her relatives and family. Once I told them this, their expression turned from happiness to sadness. They asked where my mama was. I told them that she escaped in the other direction, and she would hopefully meet us here soon. Their faces looked worried.
“Would you like to stay with my aunt, uncle ,and I?” I asked, whispering softly.
“It sounds like a splendid idea, but I am not sure if they will take me in.” said Sarah, with a heartbreaking look in her eyes.
“They will because they know if I have a friend, this friend is just like to them a family remember or close relative,” I said, in a nice tone to Sarah.
“I hope so, but if not, just don’t you worry, because I can live alone on the streets,” Sarah explained in a joking manner.
“Nice joke!” I said with a huge grin.
I went up to Aunt Galina and asked her if I could live with her until my mama would pick me up. She said of course. Then, I asked if Sara could stay, and she said that she would love to take her in, but on this matter I would have to talk to Uncle Gabriel. I spoke to Gabriel, and he said yes. I went to tell Sarah the final arrangement I had made. When I told her, her face lit up with so much delight and thanks that she hugged me so tightly that I thought I was going to suffocate.
After three restful weeks, there was a knock on the door. I was afraid it was the Germans trying to find me, so I ran as quickly as a mouse to Aunt Galina. I whispered to her that someone was knocking on the door. I hid under bathroom sink and waited. I waited for the clanking noise of the German soldier’s boots, pushing through my aunt and searching for me. A few minutes later, I heard a familiar voice. The voice sounded like a sweet bell ringing in a melodic tune. I came out of the sink cupboard and ran to see her.
“Emushka, I thought I would never see you again ! I missed you so much!” screamed my mom with joy.
Ann asked me who the girl was standing next to me. I explained that it was Sarah, that I met her in the forest, and that she was also a Jew who had escaped. My mother, aunt, and uncle asked if they could talk privately. We let them and then went outside in the yard to play. While we played in the yard, they talked about what they should do with Sarah, and where Ann and I would live. Since my grandparents had their own house, containing 2 bedrooms, one messy attic, and two bathrooms, it was decided that all five of us would live in their house. This would be until the Germens went away from Odessa, and we could return to our house. They told us this news, and from that point, my new family of five lived happily ever after. Sadly, we never heard news about my father nor did we ever return to our house because the Germans never left. But other than these small facts, I had a normal life, and all the freedom I ever wanted.