With the unconditional surrender of the Germans on May 8, 1945, the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust were finally at and end. Although this day is recognized in history as the end of both war and the violent persecution of the Jews seen during the Holocaust, those who survived the Holocaust would never be released from the grips of their nightmarish memories. After realizing that their families would not be returning and the difficulty of assimilating back into a life of normality diminished, memories of atrocity and malice kept the survivors on an endless rollercoaster of emotions from which escape was nearly impossible. Despite the anguish the survivors faced after surviving the Holocaust, they are often considered the lucky ones. …show more content…
At this point in history, the Nazi’s were not as outright with their expression of violent antisemitism as they would later become. This, in addition to the fact that the father of the family had a secure job at a chemical factory which could provide paper to protect the family, allowed the family to remain in Lublin and wait out the Nazi occupation, but not for long. Soon the papers of protection were no longer good enough and the family had to be protected by living in a room in the factory itself. A series of events led the family to various locations seeking protection. From Lublin to Warsaw, then to Otwock, and finally to Kielce, Nechama, or Krysia as she become known, sought refuge with many different people. In all of the places Nechama and her family were granted protection, life became anything but humane. All attention to personal hygiene had to be regarded as superfluous, and food was meager at best. Furthermore, as Jews in hiding, the families hosting Nechama and her family were risking a great deal of risk. Why? Primarily because Nechama’s family was able to pay the host families, and as with the Homars in Kielce, provide funds to sustain everyone. Were it not for their financial stability, Nechama and her family would likely not have had reliable protection from the Nazi’s. This financial stability is again attributed to the father, who provides both a social and …show more content…
Assuming that the family is granted protection, the next question that must be asked is how are they able to survive living in such protection? Neither the mother nor the father are fluent in Polish, and their Yiddish accent is a dead giveaway of their Jewishness. Even if they were to somehow remain silent, Nechama’s mother has the typical “Jewish look” to her and would stick out like a sore thumb in Nazi occupied Poland. It is because of these facts that neither the mother nor father are able to venture outside their place of hiding, whether to work and therefore support the family, or even live somewhat normal lives. Instead, if the parents have any hope of surviving the Holocaust, they have no choice but to live as prisoners, hidden from the rest of the world. Unable to support the family beyond what gold and jewelry the family still clung onto, the parents looked to the children to pick up the slack. Unlike the parents, both Tec and her sister could pass in Polish society. Both looked like typical polish girls, and as they had been schooled and tutored since a young age, both were fluent in Polish and accent-free. Tec’s sister was able to work in a tavern with many Nazi officials, and Tec was able to make a little money helping prepare hay. Later on, Tec began helping buy groceries and soon she was a regular bargain-hunter. With these skills, and