It takes several weeks to make the trip from Budapest into Russia. Fierce fighting between the retreating Russian army and the advancing Germans continues all around you. You join long lines of refugees and take advantage of the confusion to avoid patrols and escape the Germans. Finally you pass beyond the area of intense fighting, feeling a bit more secure for the first time in many days.
You present yourself to the Russian authorities and offer to do any kind of work. They put you on a train and send you to a factory in Siberia. There you spend the war years making rifles for the Russian army. The work is hard, and the hours are long, but at least you are safe. For the moment, that is the only thing that counts.
After the war, you return to Budapest and then to Cracow. The death of Jewish life there is simply too much for you to bear. With no reason for you to stay, you make your way to a Displaced Persons camp run by the American army in southern Germany. There, a young military chaplain named Eugene Lipman helps you and other refugees start over, taking care of your immediate needs and encouraging you to plan for your future.
Among those plans, you think about returning to school. Because you are so impressed by Rabbi Lipman and his work, you consider attending a rabbinical seminary. Yet you still look back upon your early medical studies.
If you decide to become a Rabbi, continue to page 88.
If you elect to become a doctor, continue to page 89.