World War II was a terrible time. From 1941 to 1945, about 6 million Jews were killed. This was the Holocaust. On January 27, the world remembers. It is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Toby Levy was 8 years old in 1942. As a Jewish girl, she had to hide. She lived in a barn in Chodorow, Poland. News-O-Matic readers had questions about this. Here are 10 of Levy’s answers. The next edition has the rest.
Christopher: What was the hardest part of hiding?
Levy: The hardest part was not understanding why. Don’t forget, I was 8 years old. “Why?” I would say to my father. “What did you do wrong?” I blamed him. He says, “I have no answer for you.”
Bebe: How did you get food when you were hiding?
Levy: We didn’t go out. The woman that gave us the hiding place would bring us food. Our diet was potatoes and bread. That’s it. But not enough. If she cooked a big pot of potato, she would say to us, “It’s for a week.”
Jen: How does it feel that young people don’t know what the Holocaust was?
Levy: I’m disappointed. I am disappointed that they deny us now.
Got wolfed: Did you ever return to your town?
Levy: Yes, I did. I did go back. It must have been late '90s. The town was never rebuilt. My streets where we lived, I couldn’t recognize.
Lydia: Do you still have your Star of David?
Levy: I don’t. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything that we had in hiding. We were so glad to leave everything and get out.
Max: Did you stay in contact with the woman who helped your family?
Levy: My parents
with them.
An 8th-grader: How did the Holocaust change your view of the world?
Levy: That’s a big question. First of all, I don’t trust anybody. I don’t trust anyone. [When I read something, I ask] “Who wrote it? Does he give me his opinion? Or is he giving me facts?”
Niyah: How did you celebrate being
?
Levy: Trust me, we didn’t celebrate. Our muscles weren’t working. We were so skinny and couldn’t walk. All we do is look at each other. And ask, “Did we really make it? Is it possible?” The Russian soldiers said, “Yes, you made it.” We didn’t celebrate. Just couldn’t believe it. Yes! We are free.
Biagia: Did you know any people who got taken away?
Levy: Yes, everybody. The whole family. My father’s whole family went and my mother’s whole family. The only thing left was one sister and the grandma. The rest, taken. Yes, everyone.
Andrea: Were you afraid of getting caught? Were there close calls?
Levy: A million close calls. Every single day. But this was a big one: We were in the barn. About three months into our hiding, [there were] three people standing in the center. All of a sudden the barn door opens up. [It was the] police. He was blinded by the sun! Or it was meant we should live. He didn’t see us.
Updated January 26, 2021, 5:01 P.M. (ET)
By Russell Kahn (Russ)
