Annie Poole

Period 3, Language Arts

3/27/15
When Will Life Begin?
I was sitting in the barn of my family farm, looking at the sun setting
over the small town of Beregszsz, Czechoslovakia. It was the only place I
knew, the only place I had lived my life so far in. I had always wondered how
my life was going to turn out, who I was going to marry, where I was going to
live, what mark I would make on the world. After all, my name is Chava
which means life in Hebrew. Chava Abigail Weiss. I was born on May 12,
1925, a much simpler life back then. Being 13 years old, and having to take
over more responsibilities on the family farm, I had to worry about school
work, family, and friends, so my life got complicated. That's why I wrote in
my diary, to sometimes leave all my feelings on a page, and escape the real
world for a couple minutes.
Chava please come in and wash up for dinner! my mom yelled from
the house, bringing me back to the real world.
I yelled back saying, One more minute out here, please.
That's fine by me, but your brother and sister will eat all the
potatoes, my mom sighed.
I finished watching the sun set behind the horizon, and then quickly
scampered into the house. Running inside of the house, I saw my twin sister
Sarah, and my little brother Noah devouring their food. My mom and dad
were quietly talking about Hitlers wish to expel the Jews from the Greater
German Reich. Being that Czechoslovakia was so close to Germany, my
father used to be positive that Hitlers wish would pass, and so were the Jews
in this area. Now that Kristallnacht or The Night of Broken Glass happened
where Jewish possessions and holy places were burned and looted, and Hitler
was determined to exterminate the Jews, my father was getting worried.
Living in Czechoslovakia, we were safer then Jews in Poland or Germany, but
since we were so close, no one knew. Trying to ignore the politics, I grabbed
a plate of food, sat down and talked about school and the animals on our
farm with my brother and sister.
In Beregszsz, there is only one main school, and then for high school
you go to one with the nearby towns around us. There is everyone from all
different cultures, religions, races, everyone is intermingled at the same
school. Everyday is usually the same routine, the same subjects. Today was
different, there was a new boy in town who was in my class. His name was
Louis Edwards, a quiet, polite, young Christian boy. Even though I was Jewish,
and my father wouldn't approve of me taking an interest in him, I still
wanted to figure out who this boy was.

Walking home from school that day, I realized that Louis moved in a
couple houses down from me. Trying not to show any excitement to Sarah
and Noah, I quickly ran to the farm to try to get the butterflies out of my
stomach. I milked the cows and got eggs from the chickens to give to my
mom, where she helps run and work the Weiss Family Farm & Store with my
dad. After helping out with chores on the farm, and finishing my homework, I
decided to go on a walk to see if I could find him.
I've always thought about how everyone deserves freedom, peace, and
equality. How the path and roads you take lead you to your rightful
destination. Walking on the streets of Beregszsz, I spotted Louis getting
bullied by my cousin Josh.
Josh what are you doing? I yelled angrily. .
Beating up this jerk, he clearly stated.
Get off of him, I said, Or I will tell your father about this!
Josh quickly ran away to his house, and I stayed to make sure Louis was okay.
Extending my hand out, I introduced myself, Hi, I'm Chava Weiss.
Louis Edwards, he said, Pleased to be in your presence.
Are you alright? I said, blushing, Josh can be a jerk, he's just scared
of you.
Totally alright, he sighed, Im used to it.
Not really knowing what he meant by that, I said goodbye to him and
wished him well. I was secretly hoping that we would become close instantly.
As this year went on, I didnt have much time to think about boys.
Once Hungary took over Czechoslovakia, my life completely changed. The
Nuremburg laws were enforced. Everyone who was Jewish had to wear a
yellow Star of David on their clothing. Everyone who was Jewish had a
curfew. Everyone who was Jewish wasn't accepted at school, we were all
bullied and excluded. I couldnt even play with my friends in the park, and
play my favorite game. Even going to school was hard, we had to move over
to the Hungarian schools and only the top students could go, and even then
it was a lot of money. Although my sister and I were very advanced in school,
our parents didnt have enough money to send any of us to school. My family
store was also taken away; we had to live off of our farm. We were also in a
better state then most of the Jewish families, because we had free food.
Most of my days were spent working on the farm, reading books, and
writing in my diary. Everyday, I would look out and see Louis walking to
school. It had been a week now, and I didnt see Louis anywhere. Being the
curious person I am, I decided to go up and knock on his door.

Louis answered the door. As soon as he opened it, I knew something

was wrong. He had bruises all over his body.
Are you ok? I asked before he could get a word in.
Chava, I really cant talk about this here, he whispered, Could we go
somewhere else?
Of course, follow me, I said, leading him to my favorite tree on our
farm.
Louis told me about how his dad had been beating him up; abusing
him. Apparently it was because he told his dad what he believed in, and this
time was especially bad. His father was already drunk, and Louis made the
mistake of telling him how he thought Hitler was stupid, and didnt know why
he was anti-Semitic, and wanted to create genocide. His father supported
Hitler and the Nazis, so he was very angry with Louis and his words. Louis
made me promise to not tell anyone because he didnt want to get in more
trouble than he already was.
I should be getting back to the house, Louis said in a rushed tone,
My father will get mad.
Me too, got to get back in time for curfew, I sighed.
Hope to see you soon!
Me too, I said as we went our separate ways.
1939-1943
Louis and I formed a strong friendship over these years. We regularly
met at least a couple times a week and talked about the war. Even though I
was Jewish, and he was Christian, we set our differences aside and went on
mini adventures. He was my only friend that wasnt apart from my Jewish
friends, family, and cousins. Louis also had a radio in his house and access to
a newspaper, so he reported news about the war back to me because the
Jews werent allowed hardly any communication.
It was June 30, 1942, and I was sitting in my barn, writing in my diary,
and looking over my town. Suddenly, I hear, Chava! I could tell it was
Louis voice. He had a look on his face that I had never seen before. He
looked like a ghost, all of the color was drained out of his face.
Sit down Chava, He said.
Louis, youre scaring me, I quietly said, whats wrong?
There have been reports that already 1,000,000 Jews have already
been killed by the Nazis, he tried to say calmly.

I couldnt take it anymore. My people and my religion was being taken

over by Hitler and the Nazis. I burst out crying. Louis comforted me and we
just sat there until my curfew in silence. We were mourning all the deaths.
We parted ways once again, knowing that my life could be drastically
changed at any time. At this moment, I actually realized that Louis has been
helping and caring for me this whole time. He wanted me to know what was
happening, so I could be ready for it. I didnt know if I was ready.

1944
This was the day I was mentally preparing myself for. We heard last night
that the Nazis were coming to take us. We all knew it was coming since it
had been a few years since the war had started. As my mom started packing
up food for us to bring that wouldnt perish, I ran to Louis house. I knocked
on the door, but Louis didnt answer, it was his father.
Who are you? Mr. Edwards said impatiently.
Chava Weiss, I said, is Louis here?
Why would someone look for that piece of dirt? he said as he shook
his head.
Sir, I love your son, I firmly said, as he slammed the door on face.
I started tearing up. My life was being taken away from me tomorrow.
Nothing would ever be the same. I just wanted to talk to Louis. Tell him that I
was leaving the only home Ive ever known. That I had to leave him. I looked
turned around and there he was. His blue eyes stared into my blue eyes. I
was crying, but he just had a smile on his face. He embraced me in a hug.
You love me? he whispered, pulling me closer, I love you. I looked up
crying, the tears flowing down my pale face.
Louis, I have to go, I whispered.
Chava, dont leave me, Ill hide you, he said.
Louis, I have to stay with my family,
Just let me give you something first, he pleaded.
I closed my eyes and he put a necklace that said Chava on it. I stared
deep into his eyes and suddenly I felt his lips pressed against mine. It was
my first kiss. Full of emotion, full of sadness, full of hope, full of happiness,
full of bittersweetness. Louis walked me home, and we both firmly believed
that we would see each other in the near future. He kissed me one more
time, as I was swelling up with tears, saying goodbye but not wanting to. I
ran up the stairs to my room, grabbed my diary and a little bag of clothes
with food my mom stuffed in it.

The next morning, I woke up to an unpleasant surprise. It was around 5

a.m. and the Nazis banged on our door. They demanded for us to be at the
City Hall in 30 minutes, and made us give our keys to them. A wagon brought
us to the City Hall, and from there we went to our beautiful synagogue. Our
holy place was ruined. From there, they transferred us to a ghetto, right by
our town. We had heard little things about the ghettos, but we knew that
most people didn't have adequate clothing, enough food and water, and
some people even died from diseases. We didn't even have facilities where
we could go to the restroom.
Reality hit me at the ghetto. Jews were being discriminated against,
including my family and I. After a week or so of being at the ghetto, cattle
cars showed up. My family luckily all stayed together, and we were one of
the first to get departed. Finally, on the fourth day of being in the cattle cars,
we arrived at Auschwitz. Being crammed in the cars for days, with barely any
food and water, everyone was weak and fed up.
As soon as I stepped out of the cattle car, families were being split up.
Before any Nazi saw me, I slipped my necklace that Louis got me under my
clothes. Women went one way, men went the other way. Young and old, sick
and healthy, got separated. I saw my brother and father go one way, as they
were getting handed a uniform, something that looked like a jail uniform. My
mom got separated from Sarah and I. We got handed a uniform, and my long
blonde hair that was neatly woven into braids, got chopped off. I had a
shaven head. The next way I turnI see everyone getting a number tattooed
on their arm. Suddenly, I felt this sharp pain in my arm, I looked down and
saw A6325. We got escorted to these crowded rooms with little bunks all
over. Most nights, 10 to 12 people crammed into a little bed. This was my life
as I knew it.
At Auschwitz, we did heavy labor, and hardly got any food or water.
The only happy thing that I could bring was my singing. At night, I quietly got
people to sing Jewish songs. Every night before bed, and every morning
when I woke up,I sang the Shema. The prayer I was first taught to sing, to
praise our God. It was the one thing that kept my Jewish faith alive. Being
sent to this death camp killed many aspects of my life, even people. Many
people died regularly from sickness, or even worse, dying from the gas
chambers.
One night, after 7 moths of me living there, they demanded for my group to
be outside, and board the truck. I knew that we were being sent to the gas
chambers. Everyone knew that no one came back alive. I turned to my mom
and sister, and we all embraced in a group hug, balling our eyes out. The
Nazis yelled at us once again to get on the truck. I got yanked away from my
family, knowing that my life was about to end. Everything flashed before my

eyes, I picture Louis, my brother, my father, life before the war, and all the
good memories I had.
As we were waiting in the truck to enter these chambers, there was one
guard. I was noticing his blue eyes, when suddenly I recognized him. It was
Louis, I knew it. He gazed into my eyes and saw me. He was taken aback
when he saw the condition I was in. He suddenly announced to everyone and
said, Anyone who has the strength to escape, I'll let you, but it's not my
fault if you get caught and killed. Everyone else in my group was too weak,
and rather die then go through this much pain. I felt like this until I saw Louis.
He gave me a glimmer of hope.
I hopped off of the truck, barely having enough energy to do so. When I saw
the electric fences that surrounded the entire camp, I didn't know how we
were going to get out. I wanted to tell Louis everything, even give him a hug
or kiss but you never knew who was watching you. He turned off the fences
for a minute, and we climbed over. We hugged and kissed for a minute. I was
overwhelmed with feelings, that tears just streamed down my face. Trying to
be as quiet as possible, we ran for a couple miles, finally finding an
abandoned house so we could talk.
Chava, he whispered, I can't believe you're alive!
It's been hard, I said, Why are you a Nazi?
The only way I could escape my dad, Louis said.
I told him all that happened, he told me all that happened. We quickly drifted
off to sleep, and the next morning he went out in search for food and any
information. He came back with food and good news. He told me that a
stranger told him that D-Day happened yesterday where there was allied
landings in Normandy on the coast of northern France. This was the
beginning of the end, the Germans were slowly being defeated.
After living a little more than 6 months in the abandon house with Louis, we
heard the best news. The Russian troops liberated Auschwitz, everyone was
free. Louis and I grew inseparable living in that tiny house. When we heard
the news that the war was over, we decided to head to America. On the
journey over, Louis asked me if I still had the necklace he gave me before I
left. In the camp, a Nazi spotted me with it, and yanked it off my neck. When
I was about to tell Louis this, he opened up his hand. Inside of it was the
necklace that said my name on it.
How did you get this? I asked eagerly, a smile on my face.
I was looking through the trash one day, and I saw it. Knowing that you
were at Auschwitz, made me knew I had to find you, and here we are
Chava. He said.

Putting it around my neck, I knew that this was the boy I was going to be
with forever. I made it through the worst of anti-semitism and genocide,
concepts I had little idea of before. I found him. I was going to America. The
only thing left was finding, my family. Were they still alive? I just had a
feeling, I knew one of them was. Putting my head on Louis shoulder, I
realized that meaning of my name, was actually true, I had life, and I was
excited about it. My life had just really truly begun.
Best Story: I chose my historical fiction story as my best story because it
was one of the only stories I wrote this year. This story I put the most time
and effort into it to make the plot, dialogue, and characters well though out.
It makes me proud because I created a story that made sense and was
interesting for the reader. I grew by writing a piece in a historical time period
and made it make sense, which is hard to do. I learned how to correctly add
dialoge, and how to have a plot that is interesting and makes sense for the
content in the story. This is why I chose the historical fiction story as my best
story.