Dear Editor:
It’s 1944-1945 in Germany, World War II is raging. I’m 8 years old, tagging behind my widowed mother and my two sisters, one younger and one older than I. There are so many people, among them children and elderly people who cannot keep up. All I see is the fear in their faces. I don’t understand why they’re afraid. I also don’t understand why we’re being herded like sheep into the train’s cattle wagons.
Somehow I get detached from my family. I’m very frightened, and I call for my mother. Maybe they’re inside the train, but I’m outside with strangers. I hear the train whistle blowing and understand that the train will soon be moving. I’m afraid that I’ll be left behind. I cry hysterically.
Suddenly, a stranger lifts me up. He runs to the moving train and pushes me into a wagon that’s already overloaded with people. Another stranger inside the wagon picks me up and screams, “A lost child! A lost child!” I stop crying and start looking for my mother. But I see nothing because I am blinded by a sea of human heads. I freeze in fear.
I hear my older sister’s voice. Then I feel her grab my hand, and the stranger holding me in his arms puts me down. My sister says, “Come with me; we’re over there in the corner.” People try to make room for us to pass by. We finally reach my mother and younger sister huddled together on the floor. My mother, with outstretched arms, tries to comfort me. And I finally feel safe, surrounded by my mother’s love.
Years later I was told the destination of the train was a labor camp in Leinamiele, near Erfurt, Germany. It was in this camp that my mother and older sister worked 12-hour shifts in a factory. Thank God, this did not last long; soon after we reached the camp, the war ended.
Fast forward to America 2018, and the forced separation of children from their parents on our southern border ordered by the U.S. government. I fully understand the fears of these children; I can only imagine the anguish of their parents – especially their mothers. But I cannot easily understand what is happening and why. The United States of America declared its independence from England in 1776 and has been a democratic independent country since 1783. It’s a country that took in my family and millions of others, who built a life for themselves, became citizens and lived the American Dream. Many of the immigrants and their children repaid their new homeland by serving in the armed forces of their new country. As someone who followed this path, I watch what has been happening with dismay and wonder: Is this the democratic way – to forcefully separate infants and children from their parents? What about human rights?
My story has a happy ending. I truly hope and pray that all the children who were separated will be able to rejoin their families.
Holmdel, N.J.