That Boy from the
By
Natan Baron, "Yediot Achronot", 1983, Following the Film of
Translated
by Eli Lapid, courtesy of the
Eli Maintchik hay"d, one
child out of 1,500,000 innocent Jewish children murdered by the Germans in the
Holocaust
That boy, like other boys in the ghetto, was at
the age of 13-14. Since I heard about him in the Holocaust Memorial Day, on a
television program about the revolt of Bialystok Ghetto, I can't free my mind
off of him. Where is he, this boy? What did he go through?
I can't but only imagine: on that day when he
threw the Molotov cocktail on the officers that came into his house during the
extermination- maybe he was shot and killed on the spot, but maybe he was able
to escape. He spent several years in the conditions of the ghetto and that boy
was able to take care of himself. Maybe he survived in some miraculous way,
fled into the woods and survived.
When the war was over his wandering journey began.
At first, he looked for his family and he quickly realized that except for an
aunt or uncle, or maybe a brother or sister, he is now alone in the world. He
was now at the age of 15-16, in a refugee camp in
In any case, he would now be at the age of 18-19
and would immediately be drafted to the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Did he
die in the Latrun battles or in the continuing fighting in the
And thus, the young man now at the age of 19-20,
began his life in the State of Israel; not knowing how to speak the language;
in a time of great austerity and in a small and weak country whose inhabitants
are attacked every night by infiltrators. But all of this did not deter him. He
slowly, but surely built his future. Maybe he opened a small shop or maybe he
worked for some institute. Maybe he went to study at the university and
acquired a liberal profession: a doctor, lawyer or engineer- just as his mother
wished for him in the Bialystok Ghetto, before she was taken to
That boy grew up in the meantime, got married and
established a home. The small and weak country became stronger. He worked hard
and started to see the fruits of his hard work. He was promoted at work and was
sent abroad every few years. He had two or three children. When his son reached
the age of 13, he celebrated his Bar-Mitzvah and after he was called up to read
the Torah, he saw his father crying in some corner of the synagogue after he
was flooded by memories. The child asked his father "what's wrong,
father?" The father answered: "nothing, you wouldn't
understand".
He did his military
reserve duty just like any other citizen in the country; participated in the
Sinai War and in the Six Day War. When the Yom Kippur War had begun, he was at
the age of 43-44 and his son was in the 12th grade. He took that war together with
its 2,000 casualties very difficult. For the first time since the Bialystok
Ghetto, he felt sick during the first days of the war, as if a real catastrophe
is condemned from above. He was relived when he realized that his son was under
the drafting age.
Now, at the end of the 1970's and at the beginning
of the 1980's he is at the age of 50 something. His wife surprised him with a
jubilee birthday party and all of his friends gathered in his penthouse (or
villa) and waited in the dark to surprise him when he enters without knowing
what he is about to expect. At that moment all the lights were turned on and
everyone started to sing, He felt complete and looked around for his 25 year
old son who was an army reserved captain in the armored corps. At this point he
felt as if he completed his life circle. He was not afraid of shedding a tear
in front of all of his friends and guests. Everyone thought he was crying
because of the age that he reached. He said to himself
"they don't understand".
After this came the
Lebanon War. His oldest son served as a commander of a company of tanks. His
daughter served in the Medical Corps and his youngest son was in the 10th grade
of high school. Each time his son went out to his reserve duty, he was
extremely worried.
What would become of this boy? Maybe he survived
the war safely? Maybe he was slightly injured? Maybe…? Maybe the boy from the
Bialystok Ghetto found himself sacrificing more sacrifices in his difficult and
winding way of life.
I think about him
in the last days; about that boy who threw the Molotov cocktail. I am sure that
he is going through several shocks during these days of commemoration to the
victims of the Holocaust and
the IDF casualties and the celebration of the Day of
Independence. These days have an intense impact over his and our nerve system.
What is he thinking
this boy? Is he desperate? Is he tired of fighting? Is he giving up? I wonder
what is going inside his mind during these days.
I think about him now; about that boy from
Ewa Kracowski with brother Julek Kracowski
Hy"d who
perished in the Holocaust, "the enemy of the 3rd Reich"...
Ewa Kracowski: There Was a
Revolt!
Last Updated November 26th, 2003