We Were the Lucky Ones

Jakob and Bella board a German train with their 2-month-old son, Victor. It is hard for Jakob to think about the people who rode the train before them, to places like Treblinka, Chełmno, and Auschwitz.

Bella feels strong and more like her old self, which Jakob marvels at. After her depths of despair, he feared he would lose her. Now they are bound, with the other survivors on the train, for the Displaced Persons camp in Stuttgart, Germany, where they heard that the UN and the American Army will provide food and accommodations. There Jakob and Bella will wait to emigrate to America. The thought fills their hearts with wonder. They talk about what it will mean for Victor, to grow up American: “Surely, he’ll be better off, they say, even though they have no concept of what growing up American entails” (360). Jakob jumps down from the train car to take a photograph and then the train departs. They all say goodbye to Poland.

The Displaced Persons settlement in Stuttgart is a city block, rather than a traditional camp. When local people refused to take in Jewish refugees, General Eisenhower ordered them to leave their homes to make room for the incoming Displaced Persons (DP). There are some people there that Jakob and Bella knew in Radom. The DP community was gratified to celebrate holidays like Hanukkah that the occupying forces forbade during the war: “No one in the camp talked about the war. It was as if the DPs were in a hurry to forget about lost years, to start fresh” (362). Bella and Jakob comfortably wait for word about her uncle’s efforts at sponsoring them. At the settlement, there are classrooms set up for the children and for adult trade classes. Jakob helps put together a soccer league, and Bella and Victor go to watch him play.

Addy is walking with his Polish friend Sebastian through the streets of Rio: “Speaking the language they grew up with is comforting, in a way—a nod to a chapter of their lives, a time and a place that exists now only in their memories” (365). Both miss their homeland and their families terribly and check daily at the Red Cross for news.

More news has reached Brazil about the extent of the Nazi concentration camps, particularly in Poland, and Addy has been staggered by the horrifying photographs: “When Addy comes across a photo, he can’t help but stare, boiling with anger and despair, terrified of finding a familiar face” (366). When Addy starts to imagine his own family perishing in the camps, his mind rejects the images, remembering instead how his family looked when he saw them last.

Addy and Sebastian stop for a snack. Sebastian asks about Caroline, and Addy says she is well and talking about returning to America. Addy and Caroline married the summer before. Addy wonders how Caroline will feel returning home, now that her mother has passed away. He then wonders what will happen to him if he never finds out what happened to his family: “Or worse—what could have happened, had he stayed in France and found a way to return to Poland” (367). It has been nearly a decade since Addy last saw his mother. He reaches into his pocket and runs his fingers over the handkerchief she gave him.

As Addy and Sebastian wait for a cafe table, a stranger taps Addy on the shoulder and addresses him in Polish. The man says that he heard them speaking in Polish and wondered if either of them know Addy Kurc. He says that he has been having trouble finding Addy Kurc. Addy, who has recently moved, introduces himself. The man shakes his hand and says that he is from the Polish consulate, where they received a telegram for Addy. He tells Addy that he must come to the embassy to collect the telegram in person, which is due to close soon.

Addy takes off running. The embassy is closed when he arrives, but he pounds on the door and begs them to open it. An embassy worker lets him in and finds the telegram. The telegram reads: “DEAR BROTHER—OVERJOYED TO FIND YOU ON RED CROSS LIST I AM WITH SISTERS AND PARENTS IN ITALY—JAKOB WAITING FOR VISA TO U.S. SEND NEWS—LOVE GENEK” (370).

Addy is overcome with emotion to learn that his family is alive. He asks the embassy worker to read the telegram to him, to make sure he read it correctly. After the man does so, Addy takes the telegram back, holds it to his chest, and cries tears of joy.