Information: These are diary entries of a little girl living through the Holocaust. She starts off at age 10 and progresses. Let me know what you think. BTW- I am only 14 and I had to do this for a creative writing class. I had a little bit of knowledge about the Holocaust.
July 26th, 1933
Today Momma told me I could go outside to play ball with my brother and my baby sister, Evette. Thomas, my brother, was in charge, Momma’s orders. He wasn’t that much older than me, only by three years or so, but Momma always has my brother watch over me and baby Evette. Baby Evette can barely speak words yet, but she calls me “Ha”, only because she can’t say my full name, Hanna. She watches us play ball and claps her hands off beat as I sing the rhyme and throw the blue ball to Thomas.
When I went into our tiny house, it smelled wonderful. It smelled like pasta and soup broth. I could hear the stove boiling our supper. Momma was making soup and bread for dinner, while Papa sat in the kitchen chair. I heard him mumble a few things to himself quietly. I glanced at him and noticed he was reading the paper.
After dinner, I was tucking little Evette into her crib while Papa read the story, like he does every night. I held on to Evette’s hand while she fell asleep. I remember everyday being just like this, with my family by my side and days of playing ball with Thomas seeming endless.
August 12th, 1933
This morning I woke up to Momma singing in her pretty voice while she cooked the oatmeal on the stove. Although it was raining real bad, the sun managed to shine through the dull clouds I saw out of the kitchen window.
Papa always went to work early in the mornings, far before I was awake. Momma always tells me the same thing, every time I wake up late. “You sleep the day away, my little darling Hanna.”
I figured it must be true, because every little girl listens to what their mother and father says.
Some days, Thomas will wake before me and help Momma with the chores. The days Thomas awoke early, we got fresh milk with our meals. I noticed Momma was listening to the radio quite a bit today. As I would walk by the dining area, Momma would just sit and stare at the men’s voices coming from the dark brown radio speakers.
Many times I heard the words, “Hitler”, “Nazis”, and something else about some kind of camp created as I listened in with Momma. “It must be very important,” I thought to myself. I wonder if Mr. Hitler will be nice to our country of Germany.
December 9th, 1933
My birthday is today, and Thomas colored me a picture that says “Happy Birthday Hanna!” with a big ten written on the back of the coloring paper. I carried it around all day with me. I’m so happy to be 10.
Papa stayed home from his shop today. He said it was because of my birthday. But I wonder if that is the real reason because I heard Momma and Papa talking about change, and using some of the words I heard on the radio a while ago, when I was listening to it with Momma in the dining room.
The man’s voice on the radio seemed quite kind, but Papa’s voice was fierce and angry. The way he said those words “Nazis”, and “Hitler” made me think these things or people were nothing but evil. Momma didn’t want me to hear here, but I heard most of what she was talking about. They said that Hitler wanted to take over our country. He was going around killing people because he could not get what he wanted. Hitler was especially killing all the Jewish people.
I remember hearing Momma whine and complain, but I could not understand why. We have a good life, the best life I could ever want. Our family may not have the biggest house or the most money but I like my life just the way it is.
Tonight was Momma’s turn to put baby Evette into her crib and make sure she went to sleep. I was looking out the window of the kitchen, staring at the moon. “It is so pretty,” I thought. I looked down the road, and five men were standing in suit type outfits, each one carrying what looked like a gun and some other sort of weapon like a knife or something sharp.
February 16th, 1934
When I asked about the guns the men were carrying a few months ago, Thomas told me they were special German police officers. “You have to listen to what they say, and follow all of their rules, or they will take our things away,” I specifically remember Thomas telling me. “What things?” I asked him. “Our house, our food, and our family,” Thomas replied. Those words hit me like a knife to my stomach. I realized that these people were not nice. I could tell he was very sad about this. I think to myself, “I need my family; it is all that I have. I must listen to those German policemen.”
Papa came home tonight, a bit earlier than usual. He came through the dining area door while I was reading one of my favorite books. I can remember with ease Papa’s exact words. “Hitler is taking away all of our rights.” Thomas asked why. Momma replied, “Because we are Jewish, that’s why.”
I really didn’t believe that just because of our religion, we were being punished. Momma, Papa, Thomas and I all agreed. When I had first heard about Hitler becoming “prime minister” (as Momma called it), I had wished that he would be nice to us. I guess my wish didn’t come true.
Thanks for reading. Let me know how it is so far. After reviews, I will post more as part two.
