True story about NAZIS

True story about NAZIS

Hey friends,

Today I’d like to bring you a powerful story about the region I am originally from. I translated this from my mom’s writing and hope to do it justice. This is a tough subject and I want you to think about this story upon finishing and reflect.

First there will be brief history and then the personal encounter.

“Lviv ghetto was estimated by experts to be the third largest in Eastern Europe. Around 140 thousands jews went to it. Only 300, yes…300, remained alive after.

Prior to these events, there were 150 thousand jews living in Lviv, 110 thousand of which were with deep roots in the region, dating back hundreds of years, in some cases all the way back to medieval times. The other 40 thousand were refugees from Poland, which was already occupied by the NAZI Germans.

Starting from 1941 to 1944 the horrors begun. Jews were forced into the ghetto to be humiliated and tortured. Lviv had lost its culturally important and special section of society, which was building and contributing since medieval times.”

Now, also in words of my mom about the encounter:

“When I was a young teen, I was a friend to a lady who told me her personal eyewitness story which I always remembered.

Her neighbors used to be jews and one day the NAZI soldiers came and got all of the jews out from their homes. Children, elders, men and women. Some of her jewish friends as well. They then were treated like cattle, made to go through the street. She, out of unhealthy curiosity, followed at a far distance with her friends. They climbed a grassy hill and watched the field beyond it where all those families were taken.

She said that what followed next she regretted seeing forever. First, the NAZI told the jewish families to dig a large hole in the ground. Then, NAZI shot everybody. Her friends, men, elders, children. They threw ground on top of the bodies. What made this even more horrific as she recalled was that not everyone was dead yet, and the ground moved for a while, as those who were wounded slowly died under the ground. She said she could not stop thinking about it for many years.”

Now more history.

“Before the second world war Lviv was divided into three parts. Jewish, Polish-Ukrainian and German. They all lived in good harmony, working together. After the war the whole entire jewish section was gone. These were artists, musicians, bakers, owners of shoe and cloths stores, masons and builders. Also, 40 large and 160 small synagogues were destroyed.   

To this day there is huge cultural jewish influence in Lviv. Much of the music and food has been adopted from the jews who lived in the city for centuries prior to the terror. Its mark will never leave, and this story should never be forgotten.”

To finish I’ll add my own thoughts.

What I hope for with this post and my previous post about my family’s past with communism is a growing awareness of how devastating it is to dehumanize others. I hope that people can learn from history and understand that we must love thy neighbor and stand for what is right.

Let me know what your thoughts are and what you learned from this true story.

Blessings.