15 September 2023

Published September 13, 2023 by rochellewisoff

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This weekend is Rosh HaShanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year. So it seemed the time to remember.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Word Count: 100

SURVIVAL

Risa kissed her slice of bread before slathering it with butter and taking a bite. She ate slowly, savoring every morsel.  

Ten-year-old Aaron’s gaze held her, his brown eyes wide. “Bubbe, why do you kiss your bread like you would kiss a holy book if you had dropped it?”

“Bread is holy and precious. In the camp, a slice of bread could buy a bag of gold. A slice of bread stood between life and death.”

Aaron kissed his toast. “Blessed are You, Adonai our God Who brings forth bread from the earth and saved my dear grandma with it.”

*******

Remembering Food in the Concentration Camps: Interviews with Holocaust Survivors

69 comments on “15 September 2023”

  • We have a few beliefs here – 1. don’t spill salt or you’ll have to pick it up with your eyelids in afterlife. 2. Don’t let milk go down the drain as the cow can seek revenge. The stories were probably framed to conserve food items considered essential.

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  • A huge story told in just a few words.

    There is a reason that Jesus is called the Bread of life; that bread itself is called the “staff of life”; that the French Revolution included a call for daily bread. I could go on and on. My husband’s German grandmother remembered stories of people standing in line with a wheelbarrow full of nearly useless paper marks, just for a loaf of bread. She came to America around 1900 to fulfill a marriage contract made at her birth, but her twin sister remained in Germany and told of the daily struggle for bread. And they were not Jews.

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    • Dear LInda,

      Struggling and starvation is universal…not reserved for the Jews. 😉 Thank you for sharing your husband’s grandmother’s story. It’s amazing what people have lived through and risen above, isn’t it? Thank you.

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

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  • Dear Granny Tadpole W(T)F,

    My compliments on the story. Bread is indeed the staff of life. But let’s talk about wine.

    Tell us what it was like when Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding. Weren’t you working with the waitstaff that night? Or had you slipped out for a quick dip in the Sea of Galilee?

    Hopefully, you returned before the wine was all gone and painted a picture of the empty container the next day.

    Cheers,
    Virgil Bunyan

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    • Dear Virgil,

      If you must know, the Sea of Galilee Is crisp and clear. A great place to swim. As for the wedding…hyuk hyuk hyuk! You aren’t that far behind me, sonny. 😉
      And it’s always wine o’clock.
      Thank you for skulking by. Always happy to see your white hair on the squares.
      Off to swim now.

      Shalom,

      Granny Tadpole W(T)F

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  • Dear Rochelle,

    The bread was their life at the camp just as Jesus is our living Bread now.

    Beautiful story about survival and a lesson for us to be thankful and not take anything for granted. I love the little boy’s prayer at the end.

    Shalom,
    Adele

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  • Hi Rochelle – I must have copied the wrong link the first time around. James told me the link led to a different story. My apologies. Would you be able to remove my submission with The Elephant’s Trunk logo? I replaced the wrong story with the correct one. Thank you. Nancy

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  • Thank you for this timing, Rochelle. As so many break bread in holiday celebration, so important to remember all those who never would again, and all those who had survived, in spite of ugliness and deliberate cruelty. And to remember all those who, today, these very times, are starving, and for whom a slice of bread, too, can mean the difference between life and death. As humanity, we ought to do better. And we can.
    Shana Tova and may it be a year that opens portals of kindness and humanity, and bread-enough to all,
    Na’ama

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  • I don’t think those of us who never were close to starving can ever truly understand the value of a slice of bread or bowl of rice. But we could be more interested and mindful towards food and how it, and wealth, is distributed. A very powerful story Rochelle. Never forget.

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  • Risa’s ritual reminds her to always appreciate what she has, and it also serves to teach Aaron. Your story captures beautifully the relationship between these two, and the importance of symbols and memory in our lives. Thank you for the article, too. Horrifying, but important that we never let such horrors be forgotten or denied. Personal stories are the best way to honour and memorialise them.

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  • Woops hit enter too fast. So easy to take for granted. What so many still don’t have but also what was take from them… simple life pleasures. Such a terrible thing to have to remember from a person’s youth. Hard watching but a necessary watch too.

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    • Dear Carol Anne,

      I personally can’t imagine how people survived the camps. Such barbarism and cruelty is unimaginable.

      And how gratifying it is to know that someone is still reading my past stories. Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to comment. 😀

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

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