Tears ran down her face as she stepped closer to him. He opened his arms, bent down, and enveloped her close to his warm body. He was so much larger than she, so he scooped her up, and he held her with her feet dangling down until she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her sobbing began to die down, and she knew that the time was coming in which she's have to let go. She resisted the urge to look up at him as she loosened her hold and dropped to the floor, and he kissed her on top of the head.
"Goodbye," she whispered, and he was gone, sinking back into the night and shadows.
Poland, 1940
The Nazis have invaded our country. They have taken, and taken, and taken. First they made the Jewish ghettos and began murder them in small groups until that wasn't enough and then they needed mass graves. They set up concentration camps and deported Jews and Roma every day. More and more people simply disappeared.
One day the Nazis came to our home. We were not Jewish, just simply ethnic Poles. Our family had lived in Poland for centuries, simple tradesmen and blacksmiths for hundreds of years. My father did not like the Nazis, but surely they had no quarrel with us.
The German officer stepped into our home and looked all around. I had the idea that he was lookign to see what he liked about our home, cataloging its rooms and contents in a flick of an eye.
"You and your family are to take a train to the east," the Nazi ordered as he made himself comfortable in my father's armchair. There will be a house for you there and a job. You are a blacksmith, yes?"
My father agreed that yes he was a blacksmith, but why did we have to leave our home.
The officer grew angry and stated in German that we could either take this generous offer or we would be deported to the concentration camps with the Jews.
That evening my father and mother packed three small suitcases for us. I could hear them arguing in the basement from my bedroom as the sound of a shovel bit into the dirt. I wanted to crawl out of bed and tiptoe down the stairs to see what they were doing, but I knew father would be angry if I did that, so I stayed in bed.
The next morning we were on the train. It was hard to leave all my toys behind and our big orange tomcat, and I shed quiet tears on the train. I did not want to upset my parents who were already troubled enough, so I closed my eyes and slept.
When I awoke, the train was stopped and my father was gently shaking me awake. We climbed off the train with our suitcases. Everywhere there was chaos. Families, children all wandered around talking and looking confused. My father told my mother and I to wait inside the station, and he would find out where we should go.
My mother and I sat close together not speaking on a small bench with several other people. She held her hands clenched together on her knees until I took one of her hands in mine.
All around us Poles were talking, sometimes shouting. The Nazis had promised housing and jobs, but it seemed that there was nothing here for us. Why were we sent here then?
Suddenly several SS men entered the station with armed soldiers behind them. Everyone quieted down, and it seemed like we were all holding our breath.
One of the SS men shouted in German, "You will be assigned living quarters in the town. You will go to your homes immediately and stay there until further notice." He the began to call out names in alphabetical order from a typed list which he extracted from his pocket. My father came up behind us, and when our name was called out, he left us to speak with the Nazi officer.
My father returned with a slip of paper printed with our new address. We left the train station, and walked several blocks to a street lined with small homes. My father led us up the walk to the front door of a plain brown house, and we walked in.
The home was furnished, there was some food in the pantry, and all the bedrooms had clothes in the closets. There were a few well-used toys in one room. I wondered who had owned this house. Where were the children who played with these toys? Where were their parents?
I asked my father about the house and the previous owners, and he looked like he was going to cry. "I think they were Jewish," he said softly. He told me to go to my room and play with the toys. I went to my room, but I put the toys in the closet and didn't play with them.
My father was supposed to stay at home until the Nazis told him to report to work, but my father did not. Every night, he left our home and disappeared into the darkness. My mother would sit in the kitchen all night waiting for him to return. After he returned just before dawn, they would nap for a while before getting up and beginning the daily chores of surviving. Did we have enough money for bread, could the soup be watered down enough to last another meal? Would school be open for me to attend soon? When were the Nazis going to come with work for father? This was day in and day out for months.
One night everything changed.
I was in asleep in bed when my father came in. He gently shook me awake and smiled down at me.
"Princess," he said smiling a sad smile which immediately filled me with terror. "I'm leaving for a while."
"Where are you going?" I said sitting up in bed.
"The Nazis have called me to work for them in the big factory which builds guns, but I am not going to work for the Nazis," he shook his head sadly.
"Why not?" I asked even though I knew the answer. Father hated the Nazis. He always had, but when they made us leave our house and move across Poland, he said that was the last straw.
"I am going to tell you a secret, Princess, and you can't tell any one. Do you promise?"
We played this game a lot since the Nazis invaded. He would tell me secrets, and I would promise never to tell them. I think it made him feel better to tell some one, and he knew the Nazis wouldn't suspect that I knew anything. I was just 6 after all.
"Of course I promise, father," I said seriously.
"You know about the Polish Partisans?" he asked.
"Of course! They blew up the train tracks leading into town to stop the Nazis from bringing the Jews to the camp," I clapped my hands. The Partisans were wonderfully brave.
"Well, I'm going to join them in the forest and fight the Nazis," father said quietly. "You can't tell any one where I have gone. Even mother."
Keeping a secret from mother was a hard thing to do, but I promised to never tell.
"I won't be able to come back here, Princess. I've asked your mother to take you to your aunt Petra's home for a while. She's going to take you there tomorrow, but I wanted to talk to you and tell you goodbye."
I jumped out of bed with a sob, and I stepped closer to father. He opened his arms, bent down, and enveloped me close to his warm body. He was so much larger than I was, so he scooped me up, and he held me with my feet dangling down until I wrapped my legs around his waist. When my sobbing began to die down, and I knew that the time was coming in which I'd have to let go. I resisted the urge to look up at him as I loosened my hold and dropped to the floor, and he kissed me on top of the head.
"Goodbye," I whispered, and he was gone.
I lay back down in bed and wondered when or if I would see him again.
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