It was the autumn of 1938 and I had just turned thirteen, but instead of celebrating with joy and exuberance that year, I was filled with dread and terror. Summer in Berlin is actually the most beautiful time of the year, but by now, the leaves of the old trees we've seen everyday on our walk home, had started to morph into different colors and drift downward onto their new home for the season. It was …showed first 75 words of 1944 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1944 total…her reaffirming arms securely around me. My father would've told me to never stop dreaming of possibilities and I will never stop fighting to keep his hopes alive. What had we done to deserve such anguish? What had we done for us to be punished in such a way? Those questions remain unanswered still, but I made a promise to myself and to my mother that I would never ever stop to find out why.