The Horse Adjutant me what I needed, $150. Upon receiving this gift, I told him, “I will pay you back.” He gave me a hug, wishing me a long life, not wanting anything in return. With the money, I went to the local travel agency. When I met with the agent, I wasn’t too picky about where I was going as long as it went through Zurich. But I could not tell the agent. Instead, I had to figure this part out on my own in a way as not to alert her. So, I reviewed a few tickets until I found one that would work, Peking, China. Finally, ticket in hand, combined with my passport, I could almost taste the freedom. I was far from safe. In fact, with a ticket in my possession, I could not chance being discovered by my commanding officer. I was still officially in the army even though not reporting regularly. If they were alerted to my travel I could be detained or arrested, and anything could still happen to me. The days mattered. I counted the minutes and avoided attention waiting for the big day. My plan was simple: Get to Zurich, where my cousin could ensure a safe destination. December 1954. I got on Moscow Airlines in Warsaw, without incident. The plane was full of Chinese passengers. The plane took off; it was my first plane ride. As it started towards Zurich, for some reason, we made an unexpected stop in Prague. This worried me, as we were required to deplane and go through a checkpoint. Again, I was in line with my life in the crosshairs of an inspector. As I waited, I could not help my mind from wandering back to that harrowing night when I first arrived at Auschwitz, cold, naked, and thirsty beyond belief, “What is your profession?” Eventu- ally, I handed my passport to the inspector half expecting him to tell me to stick out my tongue. Instead, he quickly looked over the papers and then looked at me for a mo- ment. I did not flinch as I heard in my mind, ‘Clean my boots.’ Confused for a second, I purported not to hear clearly, and he repeated, “Where are you going?” Taking effort to remain relaxed, I answered, “I am going to visit my family.” I offered nothing more except a small smile. He didn’t know I was Jewish nor did he ask. That was it. I got back on the plane and arrived in Zurich. The moment I arrived, it was as if the clouds opened and sunshine paved the way for my future. Once off the plane, I left the terminal. For the first time in my life, I tasted the air of Switzerland, a neutral country, and the nagging fear began to melt away from me. That was the first day I started to feel free. There is no way I can explain what free- dom meant to me at that moment. Here, I was my own person. As my composure returned, I went back into the terminal to walk around. It was a beautiful place with many little stores selling watches. I showed one of the sellers a silver plate and offered to trade it for a watch. He agreed. It was gold with a solid silver case and an antique
247
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator