You succeed in contacting the Brichah organization. Brichah gets
you out of Poland, across Czechoslovakia, and into Austria. There
you are loaded onto military-looking trucks, identified with the
words: HQ, US Forces, French Zone, Austria.
A Turkish Jew
named Sami Levi, who serves with the Haganah, drives you across
Austria, southward through Italy, and into the port city of Bari. From
there, the Aliyah Bet people smuggle you aboard a ship to Palestine.
You settle on top of Mount Carmel in Haifa and begin to put
your life back into order. One of your greatest pleasures is to take a
leisurely stroll on Shabbat afternoon, walking by the Bahai Temple
and through the tree-lined streets. On one such walk, you pass a
Carmelite monk who looks familiar. Five steps further on, you whirl
around. Sir, I know you from somewhere. Wait a minute! Weren't
you once known as Oswald?
He recognizes you as well. He tells you that he survived the war because Jewish Partisans prevented Russian soldiers from executing him. After the war, he converted to Catholicism and came to Palestine to be a monk at the monastery in Haifa. He is now known as Brother Daniel and has appealed to the government for citizenship. He still thinks of himself as a Jew, at least in part.
You shake hands and leave. You are sad that he chose a path different from yours, conversion, leaving Judaism behind. You are glad that you have remained a Jew; it gives you pride and satisfaction.
END