Out of the Shoebox by Yaron Reshef

a
stark description of the end of the Kramer family. It is both horrifying and
moving. It is incredible to think that your mother, Pepe and Moshe had a normal
life as teenagers and I am every bit as curious about their everyday normal
life as I am about the war, its horrors and devastation. I wish I had that
information. My mother and her family lost touch in 1940 when the letters and
postcards stopped. So we have nothing about the family after the war broke out
in 1939 and my parents left with my sister for Palestine. In fact, we have no
information about the day-to-day life of the Kramer family from 1934 to 1939.
Mother told us nothing. It's possible that she herself didn't know. My mother,
who loved her little brother Moshe dearly, never forgave herself for not taking
him along when they fled back to Palestine. These thoughts haunted her till the
last days when I was still able to communicate with her. This month she'll turn
101, but I'm afraid she no longer responds, so I can’t converse with her. All
her life Mother felt guilty for surviving while her whole family died. Hanna, I
thank you for this important, fascinating and touching information. Best of health
to your mother, and comfort from her family. I think I sound like someone who
had a proper Chortkowic upbringing. I would be delighted with any additional
scrap of information. And of course a special thanks to Miri – she deserves all
the credit for this riddle. Yaron"
    The
next morning I got another reply from Hanna. This time her email contained
files of memoirs written by her mother, Tonia. The content was horrific, it
shed light on that dark period of persecution and extermination of the Jews of
Chortkow as experienced by a nineteen-year-old girl. Tonia's accounts and
memories were a stark contrast to the pastoral peace of the photos. A contrast
that only heightened the tragedy.
    Within
Tonia's memoirs, I found the horrifying description of her brother's murder. I
might not have included this account, but I found two contradicting details
referring to the same events. In one account, Tonia's sister appears to be the
one who helps to bury her brother's body, but at other points she tells her
family that her close friend, probably Pepe, is the one who helped. I chose to
include this account, without any additional attempt to confirm who helped
Tonia, for it’s clear to me that even if Pepe was not there in person, she was
there in spirit, her closest friend, sharing everything Tonia went through.
They were good friends and shared this terrible tragedy. Tonia wrote:
    "A
few weeks before Passover, in March 1942, the Seret River overflowed from the
snowmelt and flooded Mr. Weiser's new flour mill. The grain in the storerooms
on the ground floor got wet. Jews were ordered to remove the wet sacks of grain
and carry them to the upper levels. My brother volunteered for this task. The
German SS men supervised the Jewish workers, abused them and made them run as
they carried the sacks. Those who struggled were beaten half to death. My
brother was a strong, healthy man and he excelled at this chore. He and his
friends would help other Jews. Mr Drohowicer told us that my brother carried
his sacks as well. Two SS men, who saw my brother at work, were impressed by
his abilities and his willingness to help so invited him to row the boat they
used to cross the surging river. When, in the middle of the river, one of them
bent over and rocked the boat. The SS men then accused my brother of trying to
drown them and one of them shot and killed him. When everyone came back from work,
and my brother still had not returned, my mother had a feeling that something
bad happened. She was so wracked with worry that she had a heart attack. She
kept mumbling "my son is gone, my son is gone..." That night we
learned my brother was one of three victims who were murdered that day. Early
the next morning Frimka (my sister) and I went and pulled my brother's body out
of the water with great