Anelie

Anelie.

Her life in the Darkness of the Holocaust.

Written by: Ashley Selena Rincon Illustrated by: Ashley Selena Rincon

The year was 1940. A young eight-year old girl, Anelie Ramsden peeked outside of her window, watching the German Nazis march throughout the streets of France.

On June 22, 1940, France had surrendered to the Germans.

The once beautiful Paris that Anelie loved so much was now the sight of destruction.

Anelie had a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, and they all were in danger. Anelie might have been young, but she knew much for her age. She understood what all the signs posted throughout the city meant and what was to come.

One day she arrived home from school when she heard her mother talking to her father.

“Joseph we must leave. The only reason we left Germany was to avoid this.”

“Miriam we can’t now, it’s too late.”

“They are going to start taking Jews soon. They will take you too, since you are married to a Jew.” “The only way we will be safe is if we go into hiding.”

And so it was that on August 8th, 1940 they left the comfort of their home to go into hiding. They sent Anelie to a family friend’s house to act as their daughter. Anaïs had always wanted children, so she gladly took in Anelie. Miriam and Joseph went to another friend’s house.

For three years everything went by just fine. The family was separated, but safe. Then one November morning, the woman that was taking care of Anelie’s parents entered into Anaïs house, sobbing. She said that someone had told the police that she had Jews in her house. The Gestapo went in when she wasn’t home and took Miriam and Joseph.

She had gone to look for them and what she found out was that they were being sent to Bergen-Belsen. There was nothing they could do.

All that was left was to have hope for the best. Anelie was always hopeful that the war would end soon and she would be able to see her parents. Now at eleven years of age, she truly understood what was happening, and she knew the war would pass. She was right.

On October 23, 1944, Paris was liberated. Anelie was now free but the question she asked herself was, “Were my parents free?” She then asked Anaïs.

“Anaïs where are my parents? We are free now.”

“Anelie, the problem is that they aren’t free, yet.”

Anelie stayed with Anaïs to wait for her parents to come back.

Months passed, and they still weren’t there. Then one day, while Anelie was doing her chores, she suddenly heard a scream and ran outside to see what had happened. She saw Anaïs crying and, at a distance, a man that she didn’t recognize. Later she realized that it was Anaïs’ husband that had turned out to not be gone after all!

He brought news of Anelie’s father.

“Your father is alive, Anelie. He is on his way here.”

“What about my mother?”

“We haven’t heard from her since she got sent to AuschwitzBirkenau.”

The days passed an Anelie’s dad returned. That bittersweet day was full of happiness and sorrow. The family was still not together.

Anelie’s mother was missing, but was not on any of the list of the dead, so there was still hope.

After all of their moments of waiting, the wait was over. On August 8, 1945, exactly five years after the Ramsden family went into hiding, Anelie was able to see her mother for the first time.

Her mother had been in a hospital in Krakow, Poland, near Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The whole family was now together. They will never forget what they experienced in the camps, and most importantly, the people who were there for them and who were willing to risk their lives to save Anelie and her famliy.

The End.