The Oldest Resident
We were directed to the cottage of the oldest resident in Divin. I did not record her name. (I am trying to obtain it now.)

Meeting the oldest resident of Divin

Listening to her story

She slowly came toward us and sat upon a bench. She has a beautiful lined face, but her eyes could no longer see the photos I showed to her.

Thinking back to the war years.

We were invited to sit and her took on a far away look as she recalled the war years. She is of Ukranian descent, and went to school until the age of 13. Then she needed to stop to help her family. She said about a dozen German soldiers entered the town. The Jews were told to stay in their area, but no barbed wire was put up. Then the Ukranians were told to dig the huge ditch and she and her family feared for their lives. “We thought it was for us”, she said.

Then one day many soldiers came and rounded up the Jews who were put into a large building and within two days they were all shot. “I hid in my home and heard the screams and crying and the shots”, she said. When asked what happened afterward, when she left her home and all the Jews were gone, all she could saywas, “It was very hard times then.”

I thought I would feel a hatred, or at least a resentment of these poor people, but instead I felt compassion and forgiveness. These feelings were so surprising to me.

She gave us apples.

She also gave us a gift of apples from her garden. She is uneducated and poor and yet she gave us two gifts, the apples and her memories.

 

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Page Last Updated: 28-Oct-2010