I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree Read Online Free PDF

lifted our spirits. We’d had nothing to eat since we had left the house in Weimar.
    â€œWhere do you think we are?” Wolfgang asked between bites.
    Since I didn’t know, I asked a young man sitting next to us. He was about my age and hadn’t said a word to anyone.
    â€œWe are in Poland,” he answered.
    I offered him some tea, but he declined, saying he was too upset to eat or drink. His name was Erich Neuman. There had been an incident at the Weimar railroad station. His father had been beaten. Erich didn’t know the outcome; he had been ordered onto the train.
    As the day unfolded we went past fields where farmers worked and wildflowers bloomed. Every now and then a farmer in a horse-drawn cart drove by and stared at the passing train, at the faces pressed against its windows.
    Late in the afternoon the steam engine began hissing and brakes were applied. Within minutes the train came to a full stop. After the iron bars had been lifted, we were ordered to get out.
    â€œAlles raus” was the phrase used, meaning “every thing out,” suggesting we were merchandise, not human beings. Staying close to Mama and my brothers was my main concern. It was easy to get separated. Mama struggled with the heavy suitcase, finding it difficult to keep up with the flow of people rushing past her. Perhaps one of her migraine headaches was coming on.
    We had to pay attention to what was going on around us. Orders of “Go here . . . stand there” contradicted themselves until men in civilian clothes wearing white armbands stepped forward to address us, the newcomers.
    â€œYou have arrived in Lublin, Poland,” one of the men said in accented German. “Do not be frightened of us. We are Jews appointed by the SS to keep order and to help get you settled. They call us Judenrat . We will now walk to the ghetto where you will be housed. Tomorrow you will be assigned work.”
    Lublin—if I remembered my geography correctly—was in eastern Poland. I was relieved we were going to a ghetto, not a labor camp.
    It started to rain, which made walking with a heavy suitcase more difficult. In spite of the rain and fog we found the address given us. It was Novotnastrasse 10, a run-down apartment building surrounded by debris and overgrown weeds. But, oh, what a relief it would be to have a place to stretch out, to wash and sleep!
    Another family already occupied the room assigned us. They were not happy to see us. The woman protested. Mama showed her the paper that had the address and apartment number on it. She made the woman understand it was not our doing that we were here. My mother, by now totally exhausted, abandoned her usual pleasant demeanor and reminded the woman that the situation called for sacrifice by all involved.
    And so we settled down as best we could within the crammed, dark room. Washing or using the one bathroom for the entire floor was out of the question for the next hour. Too many people had already lined up.

chapter six
    We had a restless night. Uncertainty, as well as being unaccustomed to sleeping in a crowded room with strangers, kept us awake.
    As soon as it was daylight, we set out for the offices of the Judenrat to apply for ration cards and to be assigned a job, for without work there would be no food. The line was already long when we arrived. People filled out forms for job placement and said what they were most suited for. I said I had been in training to become a kindergarten teacher before coming here.
    â€œWell, this is your lucky day,” the Jewish policeman said. “An SS officer came in yesterdaylooking for a nursemaid for his two young daughters. Working for him means you’ll be safe from deportation.”
    I wanted to ask what he meant by being safe from deportation, but the policeman waved me on.
    Close contact with an SS family didn’t seem like such a good idea to me; it frightened me. But I was not given a chance to