LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS - JANUARY 4, 2015
YouWill Be Alright Now, YouAre Free
byLynneBelluscio
If you ever met EvelineAron,
youknewby looking inher eyes
that she had a story to tell, that
was beyond what most of us
could comprehend. About ten
years ago, she gave to the His-
toricalSocietyacollectionofher
stories. Here are excerpts from
one that shewrote in 2001:
To begin this story I first have
to tell you that I am a Jew and
wasborn inBerlin. ... I receiveda
phonecall froma friendofoneof
my sisters toget out ofGermany
as fast as I can. I was to go to
a certain travel bureau at Unter
den Linden with my passport. I
was not to take a suitcase of any
kind on the train, just an attaché
case with the barest necessities
of clothing and no jewelry. Yes,
she told me, I was permitted to
take my wedding band. Such a
shiny, brand new ring was, and
mywatch,whichwasalsoabrand
new and aweddinggift, andwas
thefirst timepiece I ever owned.
In those days a watch, was a
precious commodity and not ev-
eryonehadone. ... I packedwhat
everyGermanpackedwhen they
went away from home for any
lengthof time,abottleofcold tea,
andbuttered rollswithsomething
tasty inserted between the two
halves, perhaps some cheese or
some cold cuts, but it had to be
mild so one did not crave more
to drink that one carried along.
A brother-in-law tookme to the
stationandas thestationplatform
was peopled edge to edge, he
stayedwithme sohe couldpush
meonto the trainand Iwouldnot
be left behind. No, he could not
come, as neither he nor his wife
nor their child had the necessary
papers to go. For that matter,
neither did I, but I was one step
ahead by having a passport and
a visa, and therefore the travel
bureau let me have a ticket in
these fearful times.
Ifmy friendlyphonevoicehad
not pulled a stringor so, Iwould
not have had a ticket either. I fi-
nallymade it tomycompartment
thathadasign that itwas forJews
only. I sat down, and before the
trainevenstarted tomove,people
ignored thesignandcrowded into
this compartment to strap hang.
They did not seem tomind to be
in the company of Jews. After a
while Igot restlessandgotupand
maneuvered it so that anoldman
could sit inmy place. I tried to
get to thewashroom,but itwould
have taken me far too long to
get there, and I was pushed into
another compartment without
wanting to go there.
Twowelldressedelderlywom-
en were sitting there talking
loudly in English ... They were
completely oblivious what any-
onemight think of them or how
hurtful their words might be. I
was facing them and they dis-
cussedmeas if Iweredeaf. They
saw the birthmark I have above
my nose, and they decided that
myparents from India,musthave
had it tattooed so I would never
forget that I am an Indian and
could not hide the fact.
(Of course Eveline wasn’t
Indian, but these ladies thought
shewas.)All Icould thinkofwas
that they were thoughtless and
tactless and I wished that when
I get to the border and showed
mypassport that hada large J for
Jew stamped in it, that theborder
officialswill thinksomeonemade
amistakeand that I aman Indian
from India, and not one of these
hated Jews fromGermany.
Whenwegot to theborder,we
J passports holders were herded
into a large room and the other
passengers were on a train that
would take themoutofGermany,
but I was not on that train, and
when I saw it leave I was filled
with despair and fear to the very
end of each hair. There were so
verymanyof us J passport hold-
ers. I stood behind a man when
the official started to point to
people shouting“You”andagain
pointingand shouting“You”and
someone else then got pointed
at “You.” He kept on doing this
what seemed like hours to me,
but were only minutes, and I
eversoslightly, just slightlybend
my knees, yes, only slightly and
when he pointed and shouted
again “You” it was the tall man
in front of me who was pointed
at and not I. Would I have been
next if I had not diminishedmy-
self physically as I already was
diminished in pride?
Those of us who were not
pointed at and what I
thought of as the first
run of the gauntlet, were
not herded into another
room. Again I thought
that thiswashopeless for
me, but no, this time we
were searched and had
all our belongings taked
away from us.My shiny
gold wedding band and
mynewwatch. Iminded
the loss of my wedding
band. Yes, I did. I was
even askedwhat was on
my roll and in the bottle,
and he liked what I said
therewas and took it.He
also tookmyattachécase
with my extra clothing,
and every thing I had.
From there I went to another
platform with my passport and
only what I wore, and nothing
else, not even a coat nor a hand-
kerchief, and got onto a train I
was told to get onto, hoping it
would be to the other platform
that was already Holland, but I
was still not sure. I sat in a com-
partmentwith threeotherwomen
and they started talking how
luckywe were, that we were on
this train. I still hadmy passport
inmy handwhen twomen came
on board and asked me to step
outside my compartment into
the corridor. Fear inundated and
covered me and became all of
me. I donot knowwhatwas said
asmyearsmade this awful noise
and I lookedat thenearestman to
me, who was in civilian clothes
and toldhim that I justgotoffone
train and they inspected all my
papers.He lookedatmeand then
heputhisarmaboutmyshoulders
and toldyouIwassafenow, Iwas
inHolland. ... Eveline, the stoic,
broke into tears and all I could
hear him say was the German
equivalent of: “There, there, you
willbealrightnow,youare free.”
Eveline Aron, passed away
on December 26 at the Jewish
Home in Rochester, and we are
most thankful for her collection
ofessays. Memorials inhername
may bemade to the LeRoyHis-
torical Society or to the YWCA
inBatavia.
