Another Breath, Another Sunrise: A Holocaust Novel (Michal's Destiny Book 4)

by Roberta Kagan

  “Rosey was your wife?”

  “Yes, that was my wife. God rest her soul. Most of the time Rosey refused to eat. She gave her food to our son. She wanted to make sure our boy had plenty. I did that too. In the winters, we were freezing, no heat. Still, those years were better than what was to come. At least we were together. For four years we lived in Lodz ghetto, then my wife got very sick. I was so afraid, I didn’t know how I would survive without her. I cried, I bargained with God, I prayed constantly, and still she died there, in my arms. I am pretty sure she had typhoid. Of course she was never diagnosed by a doctor. She just was there with me one day and the next she was gone. I wanted to give up, but I couldn’t because of our child. So, I tried to do what I could to save my son, but he was only eight years old. I heard people talking that they were liquidating the ghetto and sending us to a death camp. I believed it and I still do. So, I took my son and traded all of the valuables that we had left with a man who was working on the black market. He helped us to escape. For six months we, my son and I, roamed throughout Poland, hiding like animals. Then we were captured and sent to Auschwitz. When we arrived my son and I were separated. I never saw him again.”

  There was a silence. “So now you know my story,” he shrugged “Tell me yours.”

  “My husband was a carpenter. He built furniture here in Germany. We also had a good life for many years before Hitler took over. He was Jewish; I wasn’t. Our marriage was illegal, as you know. Anyway… He was arrested and they murdered him.”

  Myron nodded. “Yes, the story is the same with minor variations for many of us. My son, I can’t find him. I think that’s even worse. Because I don’t know if he is alive or dead and I cannot stop looking until I know for sure. I’ve traveled to every DP camp in Poland and Germany trying to find someone who might know something of what happened to him. I hoped maybe someone was in a camp with him, somewhere … but I have learned nothing. Nothing at all. It’s like he disappeared or never was at all….”

  “A lot of people are in that same position. I too am searching for my dear friends. But so far, without any luck.”

  “You know Lotti … I am meeting you maybe under a sort of a false pretense.”

  “I’m not sure what you mean, Myron.”

  “It’s just that I might not have told you the whole truth.”

  Lotti’s back reared up and she stared at him. Who was this man? She was suddenly afraid. “Are you a Nazi who is hiding? I know that they are here….”

  He belched out a loud belly laugh. “For God’s sake, no. I am not a Nazi. I will explain. You know Mrs. Zitelbaum”

  “Of course. She is the lady who just got married here at the camp.”

  “Yes, right. So many people here in the camp are getting married. Starting families. Embracing life… Starting over.”

  “Yes, I know that, but what is it you are keeping from me?”

  “Well…” He hesitated. “Mrs. Zitelbaum spoke to me about you. She came to me and told me that you are a good, kind person. She suggested that maybe I should find a way to meet you. Perhaps, she said you and I would be a good fit for each other. I feel so funny saying all of this. But you see, when I introduced myself to you, I was already watching you and looking for a way to talk to you. I should have told you the truth right away, but I was afraid you might feel funny knowing someone suggested that maybe we should get to know each other.”

  She smiled. “Oh … Mrs. Zitelbaum. You mean Sarah? I was here for her wedding when she married Abe last week,” Lotti said.

  “A wedding in a displaced persons camp. The orchestra played beautifully. It was very touching to see everyone embrace life. There was music and there was love. Then Abe, the chasen, the groom, turned to the crowd and took the wine glass that the rabbi had given him and before he smashed it, he made a toast. Did you hear him?”

  “I did. It brought tears to my eyes,” she said.

  “I will never forget what he said, he looked out at all of us and smiled, then in a loud voice that sent chills up my spine he said, ‘To another breath, to another sunrise … to life.’ Then as is customary in a Jewish wedding, in case you don’t know, he put the glass under his foot and stomped on it. It broke into a million pieces, representing the millions of years he and his wife will love each other. I have to tell you the truth…I don’t know if this story about the breaking of the glass is the real religious meaning. But someone explained it to me like that when I was a young man and I loved the idea of it. So, it is what I like to believe.”

  “I saw it. It was very touching. It made me believe that there is still hope….”

  “As long as we are still alive, Lotti, there is hope.” He patted her hand. “I have often wondered why I was spared when so many died. But, I know that there must be a reason. God must have a special purpose for me.”

  “You are not bitter? You still believe there is a God?”

  “I do. I saw his face many times,” he said.

  “Even in the camps?” she asked.

  “Especially in the camps, Lotti.”

  “I’ve felt bitterness and raged at God plenty of times during my life. But I still believe too.”

  “So, Abe and Sarah Zitelbaum are friends of mind. Last week I was talking to her and she mentioned you. In fact Sarah speaks so highly of you. She says you are good to her, and you have a big heart. In fact she says she has never known you to be unkind to anyone. I am a good person too, Lotti. I don’t have much to offer you. Only my companionship and myself. But I would be a good husband. You would have a true friend in me.”

  “Is this a proposal of marriage?” Lotti looked at him.

  He nodded. “Yes, a rather pathetic one I am afraid. But I have plenty of time and you don’t have to say yes right away … but … it’s maybe better for both of us to try to start over together. It is no good being alone, Lotti. My bubbie used to say, ‘No one should ever be alone. Only a stone should be alone.’ Now believe me, I know I will never take the place of your husband. But he would want for you to have a friend in this world.”

  “That he would.” She sighed. Lotti’s heart ached for someone to share her life with, for a friend. Perhaps this was God’s answer. “Yes,” she said.

  “Yes, you will marry me, or yes, you want more time?”

  “Yes, I will marry you,” she said.

  He smiled. “Good … this will be good.”

  “Myron. Perhaps you should know … I can’t have children.”

  “Me either. I was used by Dr. Mengele in an experiment that”— he looked away from her—“left me sterile. I was going to tell you about it….”

  “No need to tell me if you don’t want to, but I’ll listen if you feel the need to talk about it.”

  “Maybe sometime. Not now. This is a happy time. We are going to get married, and then we’ll get to know one another.”

  “It seems strange to do things this way, doesn’t it?” Lotti asked him.

  “Yes, it does. But, these are strange times. Nothing is as it was before the Nazis and the war. So much loss, so much sadness. Nu? So what can you do, all you can do is look everywhere, even in the deepest, darkest corners for just a little bit of happiness. And when you find a crumb, you grab on to it. Do you know what I mean?”

  She nodded and swallowed hard.

  CHAPTER 50

  Gilde January 1947

  “This puppy is harder to paper train than I expected,” Gilde said. “Did you get the newspapers on your way home from work, Alden?”

  “Of course. They are in a pile on the dining room table,” Alden said, taking her in his arms and kissing her.

  “You’re freezing. Sit down and have a cup of tea,” Gilde said. walking into the kitchen to fill the kettle with water and begin heating it.

  “Where is Vicky?”

  “Napping with Pal right beside her. I get so infuriated with that dog, and then she does something cute and I can’t stay mad at her. Besides, Vicky just loves her.”

  �
�Yes she does,” Alden opened the newspapers to spread them out on the floor for the puppy to use to paper train. “Gilde?” He stopped and put the paper down on the table, “Come here and look at this.”

  Gilde left the water on the stove She walked over to Alden. “What?”

  “This ad. I think this is your sister. Alina Margolis? That’s your sister, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Gilde said, grabbing the paper. “It says here that she is looking for me. Gilde Margolis. There is an address here in America where I can write to her. My sister is in America. Alina is alive….”

  Alden read it again to be sure. “Yes, you are going to write to her?”

  “Of course. I’ll send her a letter with our telephone number,” Glide said. “I’ll do it right now. Oh God, Alden, you don’t know how many times I tried to reach Alina or Lotti in Germany and I haven’t been able to get a letter through. I don’t know what happened to Lotti and Lev, or my parents. But Alina is in America!” Gilde’s hand was trembling as she took Alden’s hand and held it to her heart. Tears filled her eyes. “My sister is alive, Alden, Alina is alive….”

  CHAPTER 51

  The Gathering June 1947

  It wasn’t easy to convince Lotti and her new husband, Myron, to make the trip to America, but after much coaxing, Lotti agreed to accept money for passage from Alina.

  Alina spoke to Gilde on the phone and they cried, and laughed, and cried some more. Then they arranged for Gilde and Alden to bring Vicky to the United States for a visit.

  For the first time since the war began, they would all be together again. Alina was excited and nervous. She and Ugo had sold Trevor’s house and bought a home that was large enough for everyone to stay with them. She was nervous and eager to see her sister. The last time Alina had seen Gilde, Gilde was just a child.

  The weather was beautiful, the rose garden Alina had planted along the fence was in bloom, the trees were overflowing with leaves, and the sun shone down as Ugo set up long tables in the backyard of their home. Alina had purchased all the food she could think of that Gilde and Lotti might enjoy.

  Lotti arrived first with Myron at her side. Alina embraced her old friend. She was glad that Lotti had finally agreed to come. Lotti didn’t want to leave the old apartment, because she still believed that Taavi and Michal would someday miraculously reappear. But at least Lotti had remarried and she was no longer living a solitary life. Alina had strong doubts that her parents were still alive. But she would never tell that to Lotti. Instead she embraced the sheer joy of being in her company.

  Then Gilde, wearing a white dress with a print of red roses, her long golden hair caught up in a pearl comb, came walking through the door to Alina’s house. She was holding Vicky in her arms. Alina looked at her sister and felt her knees tremble. She couldn’t hold back the tears.

  “My God, Gilde … the last time I saw you, you were so young. We were both shivering on the platform as we waited for the train to take you to Britain. And here you are … all grown up … and with a child of your own.”

  “I remember…” Gilde said, tears running down her face.

  Alina walked over to Gilde and at first the embrace was clumsy, but then they hugged tightly.

  “I thought of you often…” Gilde said.

  “I thought of you too, Gilde … my little sister.”

  Then Lotti walked into the room, “Gilde… Oh, just look at you….” Lotti hugged Gilde.

  “This is Vicky, your niece….” Alina touched Vicky’s hair but Vicky buried her head in her father’s chest. “She’s shy until she gets to know you,” Gilde said.

  “This is Joey, my son. Johan’s son….”

  “Joey…” Gilde said. At first she couldn’t hide the shock at Joey’s broken body. Then Joey stumbled over to Gilde and hugged her.

  “My mom told me all about you. She told me you were coming. I am so glad to meet you,” Joey said, and Gilde’s heart melted.

  And so it was that these old friends who had suffered so much, who had starved and endured pain and suffering, finally ate their fill of good food. They laughed and embraced and cried that summer day in America. They smiled at their memories of the good times before the war, and told funny, tender stories of Taavi, Lev, Johan, and Michal. As they sat at that table bathed in sunshine, with the fragrance of roses wafting up from the garden, somewhere in another time space reality, call it heaven, or whatever blessed place you like, Michal, Taavi, Johan, and Lev watched their loved ones and … they smiled.

  MORE BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

  Michal’s Destiny

  Book one in the Michal’s Destiny series

  Siberia, 1919.

  In a Jewish settlement a young woman is about to embark upon her destiny. Her father has arranged a marriage for her and she must comply with his wishes. She has never seen her future husband and she knows nothing about him. Michal’s destiny lies in the hands of fate. On the night of her wedding she is terrified, but her mother assures her that she will be alright. Her mother explains that it is her duty to be a good wife, to give her husband children and always to obey him. However, although her mother and her mother’s mother before her had lived this way, this was not to be Michal’s destiny. Terrible circumstances would force Michal to leave her home and travel to the city of Berlin during the Weimar period, where she would see and experience things she could never have imagined. Having been a sheltered religious girl, she found herself lost and afraid, trying to survive in a world filled with contrasts. Weimar Berlin was a time in history when art and culture were exploding, but it was also a period of depravity and perversions. Fourteen tumultuous years passed before the tides began to turn for the young girl who had stood under the canopy and said “I do” to a perfect stranger. Michal was finally beginning to establish her life However, the year was 1933, and Michal was still living in Berlin. Little did she know that Adolf Hitler was about to be appointed Chancellor of Germany, and that would change everything forever.

  A Family Shattered

  Book two in the Michal’s Destiny Series

  Taavi Margolis is arrested on Kristallnacht when he races out of his apartment to protect his daughter’s fiancée, Benny, who is being attacked and killed by a gang of Nazi thugs as they pillage and destroy the streets of a little Jewish neighborhood in Berlin. Taavi’s wife, Michal and their two daughters stare in horror through the window as Benny is savagely murdered. Then, they watch helplessly as the gang turns their attention to Taavi. They beat him with clubs until he is on his knees and bleeding on the pavement. When the police arrive, instead of arresting the perpetrators, they force Taavi into the back of a black automobile and take him away. Michal, pulls her daughters close to her. No one speaks but all three of them have the same unspoken questions. Will they ever see their beloved husband and Papa again? They realize, after tonight, the Anti-Semitism that is growing like a cancer all around them can no longer be ignored. Their future is uncertain. What will become of this family, what will become of the Jews? This is the story of the struggle of one Jewish family, to survive against the unfathomable threat of the Third Reich

  Watch Over My Child

  Book Three in the Michal’s Destiny Series

  After her parents are arrested by the Nazi’s, twelve-year-old Gilde Margolis is sent away from her home, her sister, and everyone she knows and loves. Alone and afraid, Gilde boards a train through the Kinder-transport bound for Britain where she will stay with strangers, in London. Over the next seven years as Gilde is coming of age, the Nazi’s will grow in power and London will be thrust into a brutal war against Hitler. Severe rationing will be imposed upon the British, while air raids will instill terror, and bombs will all but destroy the city. Against all odds, and with no knowledge of what has happened to her family in Germany, Gilde will still keep a tiny flicker of hope buried deep in her heart, that someday she will be reunited with her loved ones.

  Another Breath, Another Sunrise

  Book Four. The Fin
al Book in the Michal’s Destiny Series

  1945. The Nazi’s surrendered. Hitler was dead. But, the Third Reich had already left a bloody footprint on the soul of the world.

  The Margoils family and their friends Lotti and Lev Glassman were torn apart by Hitler’s hatred of the Jewish people. Now that the Reich has fallen, the survivors of the Margolis and Glassman family’s find themselves searching to reconnect with those they love.

  Lotti Strombeck Glassman, was a German woman, living in Berlin. She had been a good friend to the Margolis family. Lotti had been married to Lev, a Jewish man, who was taken away by the Gestapo and never seen again. In 1945 the curtain came down on Hitler. Meanwhile, Stalin was pushing his army towards Germany’s capital city. They were an angry mob of Russian soldiers who were on their way to punish the Aryan race. They would take out all of their hatred for the Third Reich on the terrified women left behind in Berlin.

  Alina Margolis escaped to America with her lover at the beginning of the war. Although she was not in Germany, she did not have an easy life. Alina struggled to make her way in a foreign land that did not welcome Jews or Jews of German decent.

  At ten years old Gilde Margolis , along with a group of other children boarded a train out of Germany. They were headed for Britain on the Kindertransport. Alone and frightened, Gilde left everyone and everything she knew behind. But she was taken in by a family in London. However, London was in the throes of war. Bombs rained down on the city. Food, clothing, even bath water was rationed. As air raid sirens blared and buildings were turned to rubble, Gilde Margolis came of age. She learned to love, to sacrifice, but most of all to survive.

  This is a story of ordinary people whose lives were shattered by the terrifying ambitions of Adolf Hitler… a mad man.

  All My Love, Detrick

  Book One in the All My Love,

  Detrick Series

  Detrick, a German boy, was born with every quality that the Nazis considered superior.This would ensure his future as a leader of Adolf Hitler’s coveted Aryan race. But on his seventh birthday, an unexpected event changed the course of his destiny forever. As the Nazis rose to power, Detrick was swept into a life filled with secrets, enemies, betrayals, alliances, and danger at every turn. However, in spite of the horrors and the terror surrounding him, Detrick would find a single flicker of light. He would discover the greatest gift of all, the gift of everlasting love.