World War II was a terrible time in human history. From 1941 to 1945, about 6 million Jews were killed during an event called the Holocaust. On January 27, the world pauses to remember what happened. It is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Toby Levy was 8 years old when German soldiers reached her city of Chodorow, Poland, in 1942. As a Jewish girl, she had to go into hiding with her family. She spent nearly two years inside a barn. News-O-Matic readers had many questions about Levy’s experiences. She answered them all! Here are 10 of her answers to your questions. See the next edition for the others.
Christopher: What was the hardest part of being in hiding?
Levy: OK, 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. But if we make it, you go to school, maybe you’ll study, maybe you’ll figure it out.” Well, I’m older. I’m 87. I haven’t figured it out why the hatred is so great against the Jews.
Bebe: How did you manage to get food when you were hiding?
Levy: We didn’t go out. The woman that gave us the hiding place [Stephanie] — she would bring us food whenever she could. Our diet was potatoes and bread. That’s it. But not enough. For nine people to feed you need a lot of bread, a lot of potatoes. She would have to buy it and cook it and give it. How much can she buy? It was 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 knowing that lots of young people don’t know what the Holocaust was?
Levy: Yes, I’m disappointed in the world. It’s difficult to understand. It’s almost impossible to comprehend. There was nothing history could teach us that it ever happened before. This was a systematic taking people, killing them — so this was planned. This was different than any other history could teach. But I am disappointed that they deny us now. That the parents or teachers are not teaching enough to know for the next
.
Got wolfed: Did you ever return to your town, and what condition was it in if you did?
Levy: Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Not my mother and father. So 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: I would like to ask Ms. Levy if she still has her Star of David.
Levy: I don’t. Unfortunately I don’t have anything what we did in hiding. We were so glad to leave everything and get out.
Max: Did you stay in contact with the Polish woman who helped your family after you were
?
Levy: My parents
with them all the time. The first time we had money that we were able to send was when we came to United States in '49. Still, the first year we had nothing. Second year we had money. Ever since then we sent money.
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 — politicians, definitely. I am not the same as an average person. I’m not the average person. I don’t trust them. [When I read something, I ask], “Who said it? Who wrote it? What kind of person? Does he give me his opinion? Or is he giving me facts?”
Niyah: How did you celebrate being liberated?
Levy: Trust me, we didn’t celebrate. The last three weeks in hiding was terrible. Every house around us was destroyed except ours. Can you imagine this? 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?” And the Russian soldiers — I never forget the soldiers were boys, not men, boys — they said, “Yes, you made it.” We didn’t celebrate; we just couldn’t believe it, amazed. 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 from my mother’s families was one sister and the grandma. The rest, taken. Yes, everyone. They were here today; tomorrow, gone.
Andrea: Were you afraid you were going to get caught, and were there any close calls?
Levy: A million close calls. Every single day. But this was a big one: We were in the barn. The pigs and chickens were in one corner. We were in the other corner. All we can do is sleep. But during the day, we would go into the center to stretch our legs. About three months into our hiding, [there were] three people standing in the center. All of a sudden the barn door opens up. Stephanie standing in the middle, with a Ukraine police on the right-hand side. I never forgot that sight.
The three people that are in the middle froze. He was blinded by the sun! Or it was meant we should live and God blinded him. I don’t know — whatever you want to think. He didn’t see us. The pig and chickens started running towards the door. He was concentrating on the animals, not on us.
Updated January 26, 2021, 5:02 P.M. (ET)
By Russell Kahn (Russ)
