The Holocaust: Ghetto

                I could tell that all the other Jews were growing very concerned about something, even though I was only 5.  Less and less people came to our little grocery store in Warsaw.  Every day I noticed that the wall they were building around our part of town grew larger.  Pretty soon many other Jews were starving and dying.  One day all of the Gentile Poles disappeared.  I guess they didn't want to live in our part of town anymore.  For some reason they didn't want anything to do with Jews anymore.  They wouldn't buy anything from us anymore.  In fact, an old couple that bought from us every week was arrested. 
         Mother and Father weren't bringing in enough money to buy us clothes or anything anymore, and pretty soon Father made our basement bigger with my older brother.  They hid the entrance with a bookcase, and I got very excited.  I thought it was very clever.  I wanted to show my friend Henry but they scolded me and told me that I mustn't tell anyone.  They told me that they couldn't trust anyone anymore and we even stopped going to the synagogue.
         Nobody came to our store anymore.  Most days I spent my time in the basement with my older brother.  In the evenings, other Jews came to our basement and we listened to the radio.  Only very close friends of our family came.  Some were from the synagogue.  I thought it was all very boring, and I often fell asleep on my Mother's lap.  I could tell they were all very worried about something though.  Sometimes they talked about and cursed a man named "Hitler."  I guess it was something to do with the Germans. 
         Pretty soon the shelves of our grocery store were nearly empty.  My father and mother spent most of their days in the basement.  Me and my older brother watched the store, but no one came.  In the evenings, a few other Jews came and got things that our parents had been working on in the basement.  They said it was for "the resistance." 
         One morning I woke up and there weren't any kids going to school across the street.  They were boarding up the school.  I thought it was a shame because I was very excited to go to school next year.  Later that day Mother and Father went outside with my older brother, but they wouldn't let me come outside.  I was angry that they wouldn't let me come with, so I went out the back door and down the alley.  I wanted to find out where they were going and what was going on.  That's when I saw it.  I was shocked.
         Hundreds of Jews were dead in the street.  Buildings were burning.  German soldiers were marching down the street slaughtering people who resisted.    A tank rolled around the corner chasing a few people I recognized from the synagogue.  Some of them used to come to our grocery store.  One of them shot at a German soldier and another tossed a grenade at the tank.  They were all shot down by the other German soldiers.  I noticed many Jews being hauled away in trucks toward the railroads.  I got scared and ran back home.  I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure no one was following me. 
         At home Mother and Father were frantic.  Mother burst into tears when I walked in.  "Where have you been?  We've been looking for you everywhere!" Father said.
         I cried and my mother took me downstairs.  She brought my favorite stuffed bear, blankets, and pillows.  After she read me a story, she told me that it was no longer safe and that I wasn't to come up stairs.
         I slept and ate there for several days while my brother came in and out.  My parents were gone all day and came back at night.  I was still scared because I could often hear loud bangs and gunshots from outside.  One day my father came back and his chest was bleeding.  I asked him if he got shot but he told me not to worry.  He said it didn't matter anymore and that we couldn't go outside anymore.  On the third night I was home alone.  My parents and brother had gone outside for "the resistance" that morning.  I was starving but I knew that they would be very hungry when they came home.  I wasn't allowed upstairs anyways.  Eventually, I couldn't stand it any longer.  I went upstairs and took some bread and cheese, but I left most of it for my parents. 
         I was scared half to death when my brother burst in the door and told me they were coming to get us.  I said I was sorry for going upstairs, but I was just so hungry.  He told me not to worry and that we had to get as many of our things together as we could before they came.  I asked him where Mother and Father were, but he told me that they were gone.  I had a feeling what that meant and I burst out in tears.  I cried even as I finished writing this because I do not know if I will ever see them again.  I do not want the Germans to find this, so I am going to put this behind the loose bricks in our basement before they find us. 

***note***I wrote this a while back, so don't be too harsh:)