A Letter To...
May 30, 1940
Dearest Tibor,
I know you don’t know who I am, but my name is Lizzy Young and I have some things I need to tell you. You don’t know this yet, but pretty soon, you are going to be moving away with your mommy and daddy. You will be taken to a place by some strange men and you’ll be living with other people, but you will get to stay with your parents. There might be a lot of yelling and scariness going on, but you’ll be okay. This is going to happen in March, four years from now. You’ll be five years old then! That’s a pretty long time, I know, but it will come faster than you might think. The place that you will be moved into is called a ghetto and that is where you go with your parents and some other people you may or may not know and you’ll live there for about two months.
After that, you and your parents are going to get on a train and take a train ride to Poland. There will be people waiting there for you, probably more scary men with guns, but I don’t want you to be scared. Anytime you get scared, I want you to just look at your mommy and daddy and know that they will always be there with you. The scary men are going to take your things and your clothes, but you’ll be okay. Then, you and your parents are going to go into a big room with a bunch of other people and you’re going to wait in there for a little while. This part is really important; when you get into that room, the only thing I want you to think about is your Mom and dad. They will be there with you the whole time. After a few moments, there will be a lot of noise in the big room and people might be moving around and making noise. When that happens I just want you to close your eyes and hug your mom and dad and just listen to their voices.
I’m not telling you any of this to make you scared, I just want you to be ready. You are a very small, young, little boy, but you’re going to need to act like a grown up for just a little while. I know none of this is going to make sense to you right now, but when these things start happening, I want you to have this letter, and I want you to read it when you get scared and just know that everything is going to be okay.
Sincerely,
Lizzy Young
Dearest Tibor,
I know you don’t know who I am, but my name is Lizzy Young and I have some things I need to tell you. You don’t know this yet, but pretty soon, you are going to be moving away with your mommy and daddy. You will be taken to a place by some strange men and you’ll be living with other people, but you will get to stay with your parents. There might be a lot of yelling and scariness going on, but you’ll be okay. This is going to happen in March, four years from now. You’ll be five years old then! That’s a pretty long time, I know, but it will come faster than you might think. The place that you will be moved into is called a ghetto and that is where you go with your parents and some other people you may or may not know and you’ll live there for about two months.
After that, you and your parents are going to get on a train and take a train ride to Poland. There will be people waiting there for you, probably more scary men with guns, but I don’t want you to be scared. Anytime you get scared, I want you to just look at your mommy and daddy and know that they will always be there with you. The scary men are going to take your things and your clothes, but you’ll be okay. Then, you and your parents are going to go into a big room with a bunch of other people and you’re going to wait in there for a little while. This part is really important; when you get into that room, the only thing I want you to think about is your Mom and dad. They will be there with you the whole time. After a few moments, there will be a lot of noise in the big room and people might be moving around and making noise. When that happens I just want you to close your eyes and hug your mom and dad and just listen to their voices.
I’m not telling you any of this to make you scared, I just want you to be ready. You are a very small, young, little boy, but you’re going to need to act like a grown up for just a little while. I know none of this is going to make sense to you right now, but when these things start happening, I want you to have this letter, and I want you to read it when you get scared and just know that everything is going to be okay.
Sincerely,
Lizzy Young