forward to greeting you here in your
new homeland.
With gracious best wishes for safe travels,
Bronislaw Huberman
“The certificates,” Anna exclaimed. “Mr. Huberman
said they were enclosed.” The certificates were the
most important part of this acceptance. They were
the keys that would allow Anna and her family to
leave Poland and be admitted into Palestine. Papa
reached into the envelope again and withdrew
another couple of official-looking documents. He
scanned them quickly and then paused. This time,
his face fell and his brow knitted together. He opened the envelope a third time, shaking it upside down.
“What’s the matter, Papa?” asked Anna. “The
certificates are there, aren’t they?”
“There must be a mistake,” Papa muttered,
continuing to search inside the envelope.
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A sick feeling was rising up inside of Anna. But
she was too afraid to ask what was wrong.
“What is it, Avrum?” Even Baba had stopped
dancing.
Papa looked up, his face pale. “The travel certifi-
cates,” he said. “There are only two of them. One for me and one for Anna.”
Chapter
16
“It’s a mistake!” Anna was the first one to break the silence. “He must have forgotten to add the third one for Baba. He knows about Baba.” Baba was the
one who had written the letter and signed her name
at the bottom. How could Mr. Huberman not have
included her?
“Of course he knows,” replied Papa. “There are
three members of this family, not two.”
“Well then it’s just a mistake, right, Papa?” said
Anna.
“I don’t know what to think.” Papa was pacing now,
holding the letter and two certificates in his hands as he walked in a circle. “Obviously, we can’t leave here without Baba.” He stopped suddenly and faced his
family. “We won’t leave here without Baba.” He said
this with a resolve that was unmistakable.
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Baba placed her hands on her hips and pulled
herself up as tall as she could. “What are you talking about?” she asked. Then she chuckled. “Did you really think that I would want to leave my home and travel
halfway around the world? An old woman like me?”
What is she talking about? Of course Baba wanted to come with them. Anna stared at her grandmother
and then at her father. What were they going to do?
“You go, and with my blessings,” continued Baba.
“I will stay right here where I’ve always been. And I will be fine.”
Anna could not believe what she was hearing.
Surely Papa wasn’t going to agree to this.
For a moment, Papa did not reply. Finally, he
pulled himself up, took a deep breath, and spoke in
a voice that was calm and determined. “We go as a
family, or we don’t go at all. That’s final,” Papa added just as Baba was going to interrupt him again. “I will write to Mr. Huberman, explain the situation. If he is the compassionate man that I believe him to be, then I know he will do something for us.”
With that, Papa turned and went into his study,
closing the door behind him.
Anna wrapped her arms around her grandmother.
“Papa’s right, you know,” she said, muffled in the folds of Baba’s dress. “We can’t go anywhere without you.
You are the heart of this family.”
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Baba pulled Anna’s arms away and blew noisi-
ly into a hanky that she withdrew from her pocket.
“Okay, okay,” she replied, trying to hide the tears that were already streaming down her cheeks. “It’s enough now. I need to make you and your father something
to eat.”
tion as far as Baba was concerned. “I’ll help you,”
Anna said. But before following Baba into the
kitchen, Anna walked over to her father’s study door and tapped lightly.
“Come in.”
Papa was hunched over his desk, ink pen in hand
and scribbling furiously on a sheet of paper. He had not wasted any time in writing to Mr. Huberman. He
didn’t even look up when Anna entered.
She hesitated and shifted her weight from one foot
to the other. Then she finally spoke up. “Papa?”
“Hmm?” He still did not raise his head from his
writing.
She swallowed and started again, louder this time.
“Do you think … I mean … would it help … if I also
wrote a note to Mr. Huberman?” At that, Papa finally paused, laid his pen on the table, and gazed across the room at his daughter.
“I thought I would just explain to him how im-
portant it is for Baba to come with us. Do you think it
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would help?” Anna had seen the maestro’s face in the audition room in Warsaw. She also believed that he
was kind and compassionate.
Almost a full minute passed before Papa re-
sponded. And when he did, his voice was thick with
emotion. “I think that would be a wonderful idea.”
Anna disappeared into her bedroom and emerged
a short time later. The note that she added to her
father’s letter was short and to the point.
Dear Mr. Huberman,
Thank you for accepting my father into your new
orchestra. You are saving our lives! My grandmother wrote to you once before. But now, it is my turn to write with an important request. Besides my father, my grandmother is the most important person
in my life. I know you are very busy and very
important. And I know that many people are
trying to get out of Europe right now. But please allow my baba to come with us to Palestine.
We cannot leave her behind.
Sincerely,
Anna Hirsch
Chapter
17
When a new letter arrived several weeks later, no one spoke as Papa tore open the envelope and scanned
the contents. Anna was practically jumping out of
her skin. We will only go if Baba can go, she thought.
Please make the news good.
Papa closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then
he reached into the envelope once more and pulled
out a single sheet of paper that he held above his head.
“It’s Baba’s travel certificate,” he said.
This time there was no dancing, no celebration,
and no whoops of joy. Anna let out her breath, which she felt she had been holding for weeks. Everything
suddenly felt lighter and fresher. Baba nodded and
turned to go into the kitchen. From the living room, Anna and her father could hear sobbing—tears
of relief.
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Now that Papa had been accepted into the orches-
tra and they all had their certificates, Anna needed to learn more about the country that her family would
be moving to. She pored over the newspaper, eager for every article that was written about Palestine. Not all the news was good. She discovered that the country
was ruled by the British government. But the Arabs
who lived there want
ed their independence from
Britain. They had been threatening to strike against the government for some time. But the other piece of news that Anna discovered was that the Arabs were
also protesting against Jewish groups who wanted
to create a homeland in Palestine. At first, Anna was confused by this.
“If Palestine is such a safe place for us to go, then why is there fighting between the Jews and the Arabs who are there?” she asked. She wondered if they were simply going to be trading one country of conflict for another one! That didn’t make any sense.
Papa shook his head. “There are struggles every-
where in the world these days,” he said. “But I know that Palestine will be safe for us. Don’t forget how lucky we are to be able to go there.”
Anna didn’t question this any further. Yes, she
had to remember that they were lucky to be getting
out of Poland. Besides, she also read that Palestine was a place of deserts and the sea, and palm trees and
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camels—things she had never actually seen before
except in pictures. What would it be like to live close to the sea and to be able to feel the sand oozing between her toes when she walked on the beach? The
thought of that filled her with complete delight.
But there was little time left to think about much
more. It was almost the end of March, and Anna and
her family only had a few weeks left to pack up their belongings and get ready for this move. And there
were still so many things that they needed to sort
through.
“We will only be able to take what is absolutely
necessary,” Papa said. “The rest will just remain here in the house.” They would be traveling by ship to
Palestine. Their belongings were going to be boxed
up and then placed in crates in the bottom of the
ship. There was only a limited amount of space for all their things. And it was agonizing for Anna to try to decide what to take and what to leave behind. This is exactly what Renata was struggling with, Anna realized as she sat in the middle of her bedroom floor,
legs crossed, trying to figure out what to bring with her. Should I take my books? she wondered. And if so, which ones? She loved them all and couldn’t imagine leaving any behind. But choices had to be made. She
also knew she couldn’t take all of her pressed flowers.
Not all of the frames would even fit into the suitcases
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and boxes. And the decision of which ones to pack
and which ones to leave behind was just as painful.
“Just think, Annichka,” Papa finally said as Anna
sat amidst her collection. “You will begin to gather new flowers once we are in Palestine.”
That was true, Anna thought. But leaving her
treasures behind felt as if she were leaving bits of herself behind.
The easiest thing to pack was her clarinet. It was
the first object that she placed on her “take” pile, making a mental note to remind Papa to put it in
the safest possible place. It would be like taking a memory of her mother with her on this journey. Her
clarinet would be packed along with Papa’s, in a box also containing his music books and his collection of sheet music. He would need that to begin teaching
students in Palestine, something he hoped to do once they got settled. Baba carefully packed her candle-sticks that she lit every Friday night to usher in the Sabbath. But she cried over her favorite pots. She
could only bring a couple of those along.
So many decisions! Take the bedsheets and the
towels, but leave the crystal. It was too delicate and would probably break on the journey to Palestine.
Take only clothing for warmer weather and leave
the big winter coats behind. Palestine did not be-
come as cold in winter as Poland did, which was
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something that Anna was definitely looking forward
to. She would be happy to toss aside her big boots,
heavy coat, and thick woolen scarves. Take the photo albums. They were precious and irreplaceable. But
leave behind the paintings that adorned the walls of their home. And they were also leaving behind most
of their furniture. They would acquire new beds,
couches, and chairs once they figured out where they were living and how much space they would have.
Slowly but surely, the pile of belongings that would be coming with them grew like a mountain on the
living room floor. Those items were packed in suit-
cases and boxes that were tied with thick strings to keep them secure for the journey. Anna’s room began
to look as if no one had ever lived in it.
Their date of departure was growing closer, and
it was time for Anna to say good-bye to Stefan. She
hadn’t said anything to him about the possibility of her leaving. Papa had asked her not to say a word until a confirmation letter had arrived from Mr. Huberman. Stefan’s face crumpled when she talked to him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered after blurting out the
news.
“It’s okay,” Stefan replied, wiping his nose with
the back of his hand. “It’s just that I wish you weren’t going.” There were no jokes that day. Stefan’s usual grin had disappeared.
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She didn’t know how to respond. It would have
been a lie to say that she wished she weren’t leaving either. Instead, she replied with what was truly in her heart. “I want you and your family to find a way to
get out of here too.”
Stefan lowered his head and shook it from side
to side as he kicked aimlessly at the pavement with
his foot. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen. My father doesn’t seem to have any connections to get the papers we need to leave. Besides, he seems to think
that all this will pass. I think we’re going to stay here and wait it out.” He looked up. “I hope you’re
going to write to me,” he said. Anna nodded. “I don’t even know how I’ll be able to practice clarinet once you’re gone,” he added. “I know I don’t sound very
good, even though your father has always been so
encouraging.”
Anna felt tears gathering behind her eyes and she
squeezed them tight. She knew she had to walk away
fast or she would cry right in front of Stefan, and she didn’t want to do that, didn’t want to upset him any more. “Practice makes perfect,” she whispered as she turned to go.
Chapter
18
Three weeks before their scheduled departure, Anna
and her father were listening to the radio. Baba was in the background still moaning about her pots
that she was leaving behind. Papa wanted to listen
to a news report, but Anna was already worried
about what they might hear. Lately, more and more
speeches by Adolf Hitler were being broadcast on
the radio. Anna shook every time she heard his
voice spitting out hateful messages about Jews. But
Papa insisted on turning the radio dial to the news.
Anna was reading, doing her best to ignore what the
announcer was saying, when he suddenly began to
talk about Palestine. At that, she lowered her book
and turned to the radio. Papa was already leaning
forward in his chair. A nationwide strike had been
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called in Palestine.And that’s when
the worst possible announcement was made. All travel permits to that
country were being frozen.
At first, Anna was confused about what that
meant. She looked to Papa, who had removed his
glasses. His brow was creased and his eyes were
shut tight.
“I don’t understand,” she said. She knew there
were problems in Palestine, but she hadn’t realized
things were so bad. This strike had put the country
on high alert. The announcer was suggesting that
even though Anna’s family had their travel docu-
ments and even though they were scheduled to leave
soon, Palestine would not allow them to enter.
“But it doesn’t mean us, does it Papa?” she asked.
Why was her father not answering her? He continued
to sit in his chair, eyes closed. The announcer had
moved on to another news item. But still, Papa did
not move. Baba joined them in the sitting room. She
had heard the report as well.
“Perhaps this restriction applies to others, but not to the musicians,” Baba said weakly. “We have special passes from Mr. Huberman. Surely that means something?” She said this last part like a question, as if she didn’t really believe it was true.
Anna felt that familiar pinch in her chest as the
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123
air suddenly felt as if it were being sucked out of the room. The silence was thick and gloomy. Finally, Papa opened his eyes, replaced his glasses, and looked up at Anna and Baba.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” he said. “We will
all have to wait and see what happens.”
Then, on April 15, five days before they were
scheduled to leave, a letter arrived from Mr. Huber-
man. In the intervening days, Anna had allowed
herself to believe that everything would be fine. No news is good news, she told herself. They would be
able to get out of Poland and no one would stop them.
The letter from Mr. Huberman changed everything.
Dear Mr. Hirsch,
You have no doubt heard about the unrest
here in Palestine and the announcement that
permits have been halted. It is with deep regret that I am forced to tell you that we must push
back the plans to have you and the other
musicians leave your country to join me here