Through My Window (Herschel Freund)
(4th grade)
by: Jenny Williamson
Do you want to know what I saw out my window?
I will remember these days forever. It's amazing that I am alive. World War II has just ended and the rest of the world celebrates their victory as we, the Jewish population, begin, restore, and heal from the terror we have just experienced.
You see, my friends and family were not dying because they were soldiers in battle, they were not guilty of any crimes, they died for only one reason; they were Jewish. During W.W. II the antisemitism "disease" had grown so intense Hitler came to the decision to destroy the entire Jewish population of Europe. Adolf Hitler, the chancellor of Germany came over the only public radio station and announced the "Final Solution", I distinctly remember it was January 20, 1942.
You can only imagine what I saw out my bedroom window.
Jews were murdered every day, but the Aktion forces were coming in larger forces than ever to drag men and women to concentration camps to be put to death. Not only did the Nazi's take every piece of our identity . . . our names, our right to vote, our right to get married, freedom to attend school, our faith, our places of worship, jobs, food, but that day they took the very thing that kept us living . . . our souls, our spirits. . . . We knew that if we had lived this long, we were close to the end.
I can barely speak when I think what I saw out my window. . . .
I was twelve years old. I was upstairs, because Dad decided to hide my frail, limp body in a potato sack. We knew the Aktionswere coming. Their first target was always young children, women, and handicapped individuals. We were considered "useless".
I had been upstairs for quite some time. I could hear the usual screams and gun shots. I felt the angry foot steps and shuffling of my parents' things and then there was silence.
They had not found me!
The soldiers had been gone for what felt like a life time, my body was cramped so I dared to come out. I stretched my head just enough so that I could look out . . . my window.
NO! NO! Not my baby!
Please, let her go! She is just a baby!
I love you baby, I love you!
NOOO! Please, not my baby!
Those words and screams of Mama, as they took Irene, will ring in my mind forever. My precious sister was thrown into the back of a Nazi bus, to be taken to the concentration camp. I could see the terror engraved in mamas face as they took her precious, innocent, little girl.
Mama with a rage of emotion, after having her baby ripped from her arms left to feel and do nothing, ran. She ran right for the Aktion officer. But . . . before she could touch Irene, beg the officer, or even fall to her knees . . . she was shot.
That is what I saw through my window that day. And that is what I see in my mind every time I close my eyes . . . even if it is just for a moment.
Herschel Fruend, the young boy who experienced death in such a tramatic way, is a fictious character, but for many Jews stories like this were a reality. Whether the European Jews escaped through underground shelters or thier lives were spared by chance, only time and the grace of God have healed these memories. It is important for us to learn the lessons that history has taught us and by doing so is to not to let history repeat itself. Holocaust.
Questions:
What and when was the final solution?
What war did this take place during?
Who was Hitler?
What privileges did Hitler take from the Jewish race that often we take for granted?
What would you have if you were Jewish, living through the times of the Holocaust?
Through My Window
by: Jenny Williamson
Outline:
I. Herschel sets the anticipation for what, he saw through his window.
A. World War II
B. Anti-Semitism
C. Adolf Hitler
II. Herschel challenges students to imagine what he saw through his window.
A. Aktion forces
B. Concentration camps
C. Rights taken away
III. What the story teller saw through his window.
A. Herschel is in hiding
B. Soldiers come and go
C. Baby sister taken
D. Mother is shot
IV. Herschel survives the Holocaust
A. Escapes with his father
B. Underground shelter
Suggestions for Props:
Jewish Star
cane - to show the disability of storyteller
a musty hat, an old cloak
Answers to Questions:
- The Final Solution was decided on January 20, 1942. It was Hitler's decision to demolish the entire Jewish race.
- World War II was the war which occurred during the rage of antisemitism.
- Adolf Hitler was the Chancellor of Germany, the man who was the lead Anti-Semitist during the Holocaust.
- Rights to vote, get married, freedom of religion, have jobs, privacy, etc. Answers may vary.
- Answers will vary.
Sources:
Bachrach, Susan D. Tell Them We Remember. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.
Baldwin, Margaret. The Boys who Saved the Children. New York: Julian Messner, 1948.
\Finkelstein, Norman. Remember Not to Forget. Toronto: Franklin Watts, 1985.