KADDISHEL
A Life Reborn
We managed to find a little electric waffle maker and a lot of wonderful bread and margarine, so we decided to make toast in our room. The aroma was so delicious that all the other kids came knocking on our door to see what was going on. Since we did not have a lock on our door, Ezra hooked up an electrical wire to the handle of the door, so that anyone who touched it got an electric shock. This kept all the unwanted kids out of the room while we were making our toast and other goodies. Finally, we had gotten some spunk back in us! Even though we were a little old for it, some of us started to “relive” the childhood days that we had never had. After a couple of weeks in Leipheim, the camp organizers de- cided that we should not stay there any longer. Maybe they felt that it was not healthy for a small group of children to stay among so many grown-ups who were struggling with their own traumas. We were moved to Landsberg, which was also in the American zone of occupation. We found a large number of people there from our organization, Dror. Not only were we all going to Palestine, but we were all in the same political movement. Things were good for us there. Since our schooling had been interrupted, the leaders thought it was time for us to be educated and arranged with the American administration for the use of an empty German school. The build- ing had a number of classrooms and a kitchen, so folding beds were brought in and we lived in the school where we attended our lessons. A German woman cooked for us. While we were staying there, we visited a nearby prison, located very close to the school, where Hitler had written his book, Mein Kampf . There was a big celebration when we were notified that the pa - pers had come through allowing us to enter Palestine legally. My papers stated my age as sixteen so that I could stay with the group, though I was really eighteen. The British did not permit eighteen- year-old Jewish males to enter Palestine. Their concern was that young men might fight with the Jewish underground against the Mandate or help illegal refugees get into Palestine.
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