Goodman Essay 2

My Passover Miracle Margot Goodman There are many things I never told my children. I wanted them to be ?normal Americans?. I am talking about my experiences now because I want children to value and appreciate education. Knowledge is power! I was born in Bruchsal, Germany in 1928. Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. By 1941 I had been in hiding for years. I was in an orphanage twice and in a basement and a forest and other hiding places. Since I was so young, these memories are a jumble in my mind. But at this point in time I was in Berlin and had long been separated from my family. I knew my father was dead but didn?t know where my mother, brother or sister, were. My parents. My father was wounded in World War I and was taken away by the Nazis in the 1930?s. My mother had gone to the US in 1939 to set up things for me to come. That did not happen as planned because my passport was stolen. Instead of following my mother and seeing her in two weeks, it took two years to find her again. My travel was arranged with the help of the resistance / underground and HIAS. It was April and I was put on a train and seated next to a Nazi so I was on my very best behavior. When I arrived in Berlin I went to a building with other Jews who also were waiting to go to America. It was Passover and we had a Seder (traditional Passover observance) with matzo! I was the only child there who was totally alone. The other children were with their parents, but not me. The man who was arranging my travel was there in a Nazi uniform and he insisted I ask the Four Questions that are part of the Seder service. I didn?t want to but he pushed me into it. That night there was an air raid and we were bombed by the British. We fled to a shelter in a nearby cellar. It was scary but while in the cellar my mind wandered to music and ballet and I dissociated from the bombing. That terrifying night the man in the Nazi uniform was able to get me a new passport which would allow me to travel out of Germany. The building he went to for the passport was actually bombed and destroyed but still he got the passport. It was a miracle! The man in the uniform helped hundreds of other people, too. I do not know his name but he saved my life. Later I was put on a train to Spain. I was given a Teddy bear, some money and a passport. While on the train the Teddy bear and money were taken away by Nazis. I got to Madrid and boarded the ship Villa de Madrid for America. I was all alone and nobody spoke to me or paid me much attention. President Roosevelt would initially not allow the ship to enter the US so we went to Gibraltar. The British boarded the ship and with their help I was able to send a card to my relatives in America. From Gibraltar we went to the Canary Islands , back to Gibraltar and Madrid. There was also the real possibility that we would be sent to Germany. We were finally allowed to go to America. In July 1941 we saw the Statue Of Liberty. That statue meant freedom! At age 13 I already knew that. At first I could not find my mother. I lived in Washington Heights in New York. Sometimes I had shelter and sometimes I slept outside. I finally found my mother. I was determined to get an education. I had to learn English. I went to public school and that was very important to me since I was not able to go to school in Germany after Kristallnacht. At one point I had to lie to my family and told them I was working but I was really going to art school. I was hungry for education. I knew knowledge was power. I have some artifacts from my time in Germany. I have two books I saved from Kristallnacht and one book from the Jewish school I attended in Germany. These are the pieces left of a Hebrew book I pulled out of the fire during Kristallnacht. This is another Hebrew book I saved. Note the book is written in Hebrew and German. You can still see the burned edges of the Hebrew book I saved from Germany. This was my school book. I made this as a gift for my mother in 1941. I also have the sweater my mother knitted for me. Some additional background on Margot Weil Goodman? Margot was born in 1928 in Germany. Her father was in the scrap business. He was wounded in WWI and was disabled. He was taken away by the Nazis and murdered in 1935. Her mother may have been involved in a resistance movement. Margot was placed in an orphanage after her father was killed. Her sister was sent away and her brother was shipped to their grandparents in Italy. Margot remained in the orphanage until Kristallnacht in 1938. She went to find her mother because the situation in Germany had become very dangerous after Kristallnacht. Her mother arranged to have her brother sent from Italy to Germany to England on a Kindertransport. She made her own arrangements to leave Germany and told Margot they would see each other in a few weeks in America. She left Margot with a passport and some money. The person entrusted with Margot?s care stole these and abandoned her. Margot ended up in various hiding places from 1938 until 1941. Somehow she was put on a train to Berlin and sat next to a Nazi. He may have been part of the underground because he offered her food and did not harm her. In Berlin another Nazi approached her, realized she was alone and took her to safety. He got a passport for her and made arrangements for her to leave Germany to go to the US. She does not know his name but he helped saved other Jews, too. Margot arrived in New York in July 1941 while the war still raged in Europe.