Elli Essays

Elli Essays Elli Essay Elli Essay Elli: Coming of Age in the Holocaust The book Elli: Coming of Age in the Holocaust provides much information on what happened during this time. It is a biography by Livia E. Bitton Jackson. Livia Jackson was thirteen when she was taken to Auschwitz. After liberation, she completed high school in displaced person camps in Germany. In 1951, she traveled to the U. S. on a refugee ship and completed her higher education, later receiving a Ph. D. from N. Y. U. Since, she has taught at several colleges and became Professor of Judaic Studies at Herbert H. Lehman College of The City University of New York. She later married, and made her home in Israel, where she currently teaches at Tel Aviv University. This is her first book. Livia E. Bitton Jackson came from a Jewish family. She loved her school, her family, the Danube countryside, the season, life itself. Elli lived in Somorja, a small sunny town, at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains when the Holocaust started. The slow drag of the war, food shortages, getting worse as the days went on, and lack of news of the soldiers on the fronts thickened the winter fog. Daily, broadcasts from Hitler were made. One of his broadcasts became a catch phrase with the Hungarian Nazis: â€Å"We will play football with the heads of the Jews. † Elli’s father used to tell her not to believe in this, that they were just trying to scare the Jews. As the winter wore on, however, her father seemed to become more and more distant. With the winter over, Elli’s birthday comes. She was now thirteen. Many wonderful things were happening. Jancsi Novack, her crush, said hello to her, she passed examinations, and she wrote for application forms to the Jewish Gymnasium in Budapest. Later that night, the Nazis returned to Elli’s house. They raided the whole entire house, tearing it to pieces. They took whatever they would like from the store, plus the family’s most precious belongings. A couple of nights later, Elli heard voices in the kitchens, which she came to find out is her Bubi. He had news for the family. The Germans invaded Budapest! Nobody knew anything about it. When the father came home from the synagogue the next morning, they thought something is wrong with Bubi because no one had heard anything about this invasion. They thought it was a false alarm, and they urged Bubi to return and finish his classes. They asked their neighbor, Mr. Kardos, who also had a son in Budapest, and he had heard nothing. They send Bubi on a train at 1 o’clock. At 1:20, Mr. Kardos returns to the family, saying he had news from his son that the Germans have invaded Budapest. Father felt horrible for sending his son back. The next morning, the town received the news. Two days late. Jews are being arrested on sight everywhere. They are herded into trains, which are locked and taken away. During that night, Bubi returned from Budapest. He managed to sneak in undetected. He tried to go on with his normal life, but people told him to run, to go home. Bubi then returned home, thinking he was safe. Nothing happened during the week in town. No news from other towns came. Then, on Saturday morning, all schools were closed. It was March 25, 1944-three months before Elli’s graduation day. Her homeroom teacher announced â€Å"Class, the royal Hungarian Ministry of Education has terminated instruction in all schools of the country-to safeguard our interest. † They were ordered to return home. That was the beginning of the end. The end came rapidly. On Monday morning, all Jews were ordered to appear at the town hall. They had to deliver all jewelry, radios, and vehicles. They had to line up and were counted, registered, and supplied with tags. A week later, Father took Elli to the basement, where he showed her a spot that he had buried the most precious jewels, in case she was the only one to return. The next morning, all Jews were declared to wear the yellow star on the left side of the chest. Any Jew seen without the star would be arrested. It also had to be painted on the wall of every Jewish home. A couple of weeks later, all kids were to report to the schools, for their report cards would be handed out. Elli found out she had received the class honor scroll. On Wednesday morning, Jews were forbidden to have any contact with Gentiles. They were prohibited to enter public places. A week passed. Another message came. All Jews were to be put into a ghetto in another town-Nagymagyar. In five days, each Jew must be ready to leave. They head out, and eventually arrive at their ghetto. Everything they brought with them was now in the yard. Elli, however, liked the ghetto. For the first time in her life, she was happy to be a Jew. She fell in love with a boy named Pinhas. He became central to Elli’s life in the ghetto. Later, they heard news about internment and labor camps. Many Jews had already been deported there. A couple of weeks after they were ordered to move to the ghetto, every man between the ages of eighteen and forty-five are to report the gate the next morning. Weeks later, the rest of the camp finds out they are being taken somewhere else. It is dark when Elli is awakened to leave. Everyone is lined up in lines. The police make them march around the town before loading onto the wagons. They travel until they reach Dunaszerdahely. This is where they were handed over to the German’s. They are put in the synagogue where there is no room to even stand, let alone sleep. They came to find out there were more than 6,000 Jews in this one place. After spending a week in the synagogue, they are deported again. Sometime during the fourth night of riding in the wagons, they arrive in Poland, understanding they are being taken to Auschwitz. They are ordered out of the wagons, and lined up in a large column. He stops each line and sends some to the left, some to the right. Elli is too young to go to the right side, however the guard tells her to say she is sixteen and sends her to the right. The road to the left leads to the gas chambers. They are taken into a long building, and ordered to undress. Anyone with clothes on in five minutes would be shot. They are then herded into the next hall, and all hair is shaven off. Then herded to the next hall, gray dresses are given to everybody to wear. Twice daily, they are ordered to line up for the Zehlappel, meaning roll call.