Let me tell you a story.
His long passage began at night in the nursery.
He did not remember moonlight.
If that were so, then how would he have seen what he saw?
No, a light shone into his room, and he woke to see the shiny leather boots of the Nazi soldiers walking in his apartment.
The boots stepped into the nursery.
And in fear, Itzhak hid his face under the covers.
He was seven years old.
Months later, he and his sister slept in fascist Italy.
But before he was eight, he slept on a ship bound for Palestine.
Deep in the last night at sea, the destination of the ship was aborted.
It was going back to Trieste.
Italy has joined the war.
Now more and more people wanted to kill him.
Why?
When I was a little boy, about your age, I lived in a faraway country named Poland.
And these were bad times in Poland, because the Nazis came and took over Poland, and they came to our city, and the Nazis didn't like Jews.
My parents worried about me and my sister, our school closed, and they kept us at home, they didn't want us to go out, because it was so dangerous.
And I would like you to be an actor today.
Are you willing to do that?
Yes.
Good.
And I would like you to play me when I was a little boy.
One day, I was just sitting at home, and all of a sudden I heard strange sounds, and I got worried.
And I went to the window, and I looked out, and I saw soldiers marching in unison, very well-dressed soldiers, and they were like soldiers I've never seen before.
And it scared me.
Okay Action!
The whole family lived in one building.
My name is Ignatza Schaffhaus.
I live in Poland, in the city of d.
I am happy with my life in d.
I play with my cousin Eva.
She's a poor eater, but I am not I like to eat.
Mama makes a big Shabbat dinner Friday.
She cooks a large fish.
I'm mesmerized by the glazed eyes of the fish staring at me.
Papa is the head of the family, so he eats the head of the fish.
He sucks on every part of the fish head, especially the eyes.
I hate his chewing sounds.
I am terrified I'll grow up to suck on fish eyes.
This will be my life as a grown-up Jewish man.
In September, after we come home vacation, the soldiers march on our street.
Papa says Germany has invaded us.
On the radio is the voice of Hitler and marching music.
One day we hide in a bomb shelter in the basement of our building.
I hear loud noises, bombs and planes.
The adults talk a lot.
I hear new words.
Anschluss.
Danzig.
A man says the Polish cavalry is beating the Germans.
Another man says the cavalry is already destroyed.
A woman tells Mama that France and England declared war on Germany, and they will save us.
Then the Nazis come, and France and England don't help us.
Once the Nazis came, they came with a law that all Jewish people had to wear yellow stars on their clothes.
So my mother took our clothes and sewed yellow stars on them.
Why did you have to have a yellow star?
Because they said that whoever is not gonna wear it, every Jew is not gonna wear a yellow star, he's gonna be killed.
Killed?
Killed!
Mama sews yellow stars on my shirts.
All Jews must wear them.
She goes to get a new hairdo before sewing the yellow stars.
Mama is beautiful.
Here is when I am a baby.
When I'm four, sitting on a motorcycle and standing with a girl with a bow in her hair.
Here we are with our nanny, and here is my sister and my parents.
Papa always smiles and Mama is serious.
Here they dance, and here I am with my sister and our rowboat with Papa.
And here's my only grandfather I know.
I love my grandfather.
He has a crank up phonograph.
Mama and Papa are cousins.
Sometimes they are not nice and they argue.
Then Papa says in a loud voice, "You can divorce your husband, but not your cousin."
And here's my cousin Eva.
I play with her every day.
Here's her picture.
Here she was five, just like you Five in my head.
Now, how old are you?
Seven.
And then later on, when I saw her in Paris, that's where she lives, she told me a story, what she remembered from these bad times.
And she remembers that she went with her nanny to the park where they always did every day when it was nice.
And her nanny told her that they couldn't go in because there was a sign on the fence that said, "No Jews allowed."
And she got very scared.
That must have been really scary My school closed.
I don't see my uncles anymore.
A week or two weeks after the occupation of d,, they tried to open up the school.
And I remember they combined all the things combined all three schools, that was the two boys' schools and the girls.
And we had classes together.
Then I remember the great Jewish philosopher Martin Buber came to visit the school and we had an assembly and he warned about the hard times to come ahead.
I don't play outside.
Things in the world happen and I don't know why.
I'm asleep in my bed when I hear loud German voices and I see high black boots.
I look up to their faces and I hear fear of my parents' voices.
I'm afraid.
My sister packs her own bag and she takes out her doll to put in a box with all of her pictures.
We moved to one room in a house with many people.
The grownups argue about the Nazi occupation.
I want to understand.
I know Germans are dangerous and hate Jews, but I am not scared.
I know Mama and Papa will protect me.
Papa says when the Germans first came to d, he and the other men ran away.
They were afraid they would be taken to slave labor camps.
Then he says, "What am I doing away from my family?
"I'm going back and whatever will happen "we will be together."
Because d has worse laws for Jews, we go to Warsaw.
Papa goes first because he looks very Jewish.
It's dangerous for us to be with him.
Next, Mama and my sister go together.
Mama has blonde hair and blue eyes.
She does not look Jewish.
I'm the last to move to Warsaw with my nanny.
Nanny's a Christian.
Mama says I'm safe with her.
In Warsaw, we rent a room.
In the house are many strangers.
I need to play, but I can't go out.
We have to find a country that will accept Jews.
They talk about Tangier.
They tell me it is on the northeast end of Africa.
I'm excited.
Papa says it's too dangerous.
Then we get a visa to Honduras.
Then we get an Italian visa.
From there, we can go to Palestine.
We have one passport for our whole family.
It was hard to get.
It is our four faces looking serious.
I don't ask questions about why Jews are hated.
I know I am Jewish.
Rules are put on us.
I know the word anti-Semite, and I know anti-Semites hate Jews.
Papa's friends say, don't rush.
Don't give up your wealth, your friends, your factory.
Don't run away.
Papa says, a cold wind is blowing at my neck.
Nazis yell at Jews, Jews, go to Palestine.
I think it is right for us to go there.
People come to say goodbye.
They want us to write letters as if Roosevelt gets relected in America.
Do you know the name of the President of the United States?
Barack Obama?
Barack Obama, that's right.
And know what?
When I was a little girl, there was another president.
You know what his name was?
Hmm.
Wanna hear?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Let me tell you something.
In 1940, when we got out of Warsaw, our friends and what was remained of our our friends and what was remaine family came to say goodbye to us And we, they wanted us to send them a letter when we got to safety.
And there was only one thing that was important or them to know.
Come November of 1940, they wanted to know if Roosevelt got relected or not because he was the hope of the world.
Did you write the letter?
Yes, we did.
And if he was elected, we were to tilt the stamp to the right.
And if he wasn't elected, we had to tilt the stamp to the left because the Nazis read the letter, the texts of the letters.
So we couldn't write anything except trivia.
We board a train to Vienna, Austria.
Papa says we are going to Italy to a city called Trieste and a man named Mussolini rules it.
The train is filled with German soldiers.
I know some German words and can tell if words are angry or friendly.
We arrive at night and a porter puts our luggage on his dolly and takes us to a taxi.
Papa takes us to a Luna Park.
I'm afraid to ride the giant ferris wheel, but then Papa buys us ice cream and the fear goes away.
I feel safe because my parents know how to get food and find a place to stay, even if we don't speak the language.
Italian police get on the train at the border.
They are loud and wear funny hats and they have swords.
They want papers and one pokes a suitcase with his sword.
I think these men are from the fairy tales in my books.
We are out of Nazi Europe, but we are in the country of Hitler's closest friend, Mussolini.
We check into a hotel full of Jewish refugees.
Today I met my new best friend, Uri.
We have never seen an elevator before.
We push many buttons and the elevator is stuck.
When my parents and the hotel people find us, they're angry.
They tell us, "Be on your best behavior in the land of the enemy."
Mama finds a room for us with a family.
They have 10 children.
The woman didn't tell her husband she rented to a Jewish family and I hear them fight.
She tells him there's no difference between 12 or 16 people around a table and that Mama will help her cook.
I have 10 friends and I am learning Italian words.
We are not getting the certificate that will let us go to Palestine.
And we also need a British visa.
They say we are enemy aliens because we came from German occupied Poland.
I play with my friends for two months and then we get all the papers we need to leave Italy.
Rodi is not just a ship.
Papa calls it a floating island of hope.
There are 180 Jewish refugees.
Rodi is an Italian passenger liner and it is fun.
I run all over the ship.
The dining room was a big deal.
The dining room has chandeliers.
The waiters keep bringing food.
I eat a lot.
In four days, we will be in Haifa, in Palestine.
We celebrate.
I'm happy.
We sail through the Gulf of Corinth and Greece.
The last night on our Rodi, people sing.
They drink grown up drinks.
Our new friends give us their addresses.
We give ours.
We will meet them in our new homes.
Our ship will dock in Haifa, Palestine.
We are not in Palestine.
We are in the high seas.
Rodi has turned around and is sailing back.
Papa reads a notice on the deck that Italy has joined the war.
Gloom was on all faces.
We were so close to being saved.
And now we are going back to the land of death.
Every person is afraid.
Papa is in despair.
We stop at the island of Crete where 300 Italian refugees board the ship.
Tents are pitched on the deck.
Food is scarce.
The next day we hear loud noises coming from the deck above.
Through the port hole, I see a giant silver-gray British destroyer.
Its cannons are trained on our ship.
We are captured by the British Navy and are so happy to be captured.
The British destroyer orders our ship to follow it and we sail to the British island of Malta.
We join many ships anchored in the harbor.
The English sailors take away the Italian refugees.
The children cry.
I think they are afraid.
"Papa," I ask, "where are the children going?"
"They're prisoners of war," Papa says.
"Will they lock them up?"
"Yes," he says.
The British announce that we are safer on the Rodi.
We don't go ashore.
Every day there is an air raid.
Sometimes two.
Sirens go off and Italian airplanes try to hit the British Navy with bombs.
The ships try to hit the planes with anti-aircraft guns.
The city of Malta is bombed and destroyed.
It is like a big movie playing in front of me.
In my cabin, I hear shooting and bombs exploding.
There is a bomb so loud I scream.
The ship is lifted up out of the water.
Then it falls and hits the water and begins to rock.
I hide my face in Mama's lap and cry with terror.
We live on Rodi for two months.
We have more than 60 air raids.
One morning, I see a line of sailors with dishes in their hands, and I get in line too.
The sailors give me a dish.
A large scoop of steaming white stuff is put in it.
They show me how to put butter, sugar and milk on it.
I love it.
I'm in line every morning for Quaker Oats.
One day, the captain says we will join other passenger ships and sail with a large fleet to Alexandria.
The waters are infested with U-boats that fire torpedoes.
Our ships travel in zigzag to avoid getting hit.
A naval cruiser circles our ship to protect us.
Then a torpedo shoots out of the water by our Rodi.
We hear depth charges, but we don't know if the submarine is hit.
We sail into Alexandria's harbor and dock next to an Egyptian passenger ship.
It's painted green and marked with a moon crescent and a star.
Finally, we leave our Rodi and board a train to Palestine.
Papa says we will rest from our nerve-wracking adventures.
I'm so tired, and I fall asleep a lot.
The train travels through the Sinai Desert to Palestine.
This is the same way Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, to the Promised Land.
I sleep through Exodus.
In the morning, Mama wakes me up.
She lifts me to the window and tells me, "Yitzhak, this is Palestine."
Her voice is happy.
Our train stops at a station called Rahovot, and we get off.
A woman is waving at us.
She is my aunt, Mala.
Everyone is crying and hugging.
Ten months have passed since the Nazis entered our country of Poland.
Today is my eighth birthday.
Passport
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