From Dachau, you move toward the west, eventually reaching Schwartzwald, a dense forest in southwest Germany. You travel mostly at night, stealing food from small farms. You spend your days in hiding. Reaching the Rhine River, you cross into France, to Strasbourg.
You remember from your history books that Strasbourg was the city where the first French Protestant church had been founded in 1538 by Huguenot refugees. These French Protestants had suffered persecution at the hands of the Roman Catholics, and you are hopeful that they might help other persecuted people, like the Jews, escape the Nazis.
After entering the city, you soon find yourself looking up at the front of the great cathedral, at a statue representing the Jewish people and its synagogue. The synagogue appears bowed in defeat. You promise yourself that this will never happen; you and other Jews will keep Judaism alive.
When you discover that it is still possible to send telegrams out of France, you communicate with a close friend who had left Europe for a city named Milwaukee in the United States of America. Your friend quickly arranges the necessary sponsorship affidavit, and you are able to take one of the last ships permitted to leave France for America.
You arrive in Milwaukee, learn English, and make a
decision: I am going to join the American army, fight against
Hitler and help save Jews in Europe.
You participate in the
landings on D-Day and later enter Germany. There, you help
arrest Nazi war criminals, including some who tormented you
years earlier. Shoving them into prison, you display your Star
of David: Judaism has survived. You have kept your promise.
END