[Cz-L] Life is Beautifu

Life is Beautiful.

Crossing the Dniester River, visiting, the village of Budy and finding my mother’s grave has awaken my memories which I kept concealed for all those years.

About two years ago, my wife and I were dining at a sea side restaurant in Jaffa, Israel.
At the next table I could hear people speaking Italian, Roberto Benigni his wife Nicoletta Braschi were sitting there plus several other.

I am sure everybody must have seen the movie “Life is beautiful” (La Vita è bella).
Where, a Jewish father (Roberto Benigni) with the help of his humor protects his son in a Nazi death camp. He hides Giosué his son in the loft of his hut from the Nazi guards.

I went over to their table excused myself and told them that I saw the film “La Vita è bella” and I believe that I have similar story.
They invited us to sit at their table and wanted to hear my story.
I told them that I saw the film in Fayetteville, North Carolina and when the film was over I started to cry, my wife asked me what is wrong and I told her that the film is very similar to my story when as a child in Transnistria.

This is my story
We were interned in Bershad, Transnistria during WWII. We lived with our extended family; some were from Czernowitz and some from Strojinetz, in a wooden hut not far from the city center.
It was the summer of 1943; a nice Sunday and a warm day. My father and I went for a walk in the town square.
There were lots of people, having their Sunday stroll; suddenly we were encircled by gendarmes and soldiers. This was “Polizei-Razzia” a police raid.
They selected the men on one side and the women on the other side of the square.
I was with my father with the men. After a while the police marched us out of Bershad. We walked in endless wheat fields and soon I got very tired and was unable to walk, my father took me on his shoulders and we continued to walk. It was a long column and we were surrounded by gendarmes. The soldiers constantly prodded with their bayonets those who could not keep up with the column.
Suddenly I told my father that I needed to pee, he told me to be quite and to hold it till we stop.
I started to cry and told him that I have to do it right now. My father asked one of the soldiers if we could stop, so that I can relieve myself, he said OK and to make it fast and join the column as soon as possible. There in the wheat field was a small three, I stood there, but nothing came out. Slowly the column passed us and they were over the horizon, the soldiers forgot about us and nobody came looking for us.
We sat down and hid in the middle of this wheat field. Soon it was dark and we started to walk back to Bershad, by the time that we arrived at our family hut it was dark and nobody saw or stopped us.
We told our story to our family and they got very worried and did not know what to do with my father and I.
Onkel Zeamu, (my mother’s eldest brother) had an idea to hide us in the loft under the roof of the hut. We live there for over 3 months.
I told Robeto Benigni, this is exactly what happened in the film with the little boy. Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini)

Later we were told that columns of exhausted, half starved men were placed at the disposal of the SS by the Romanian gendarmes for heavy labor, building bridges and roads. Very few returned alive after the war.
Roberto Benigni and his wife Nicoletta Braschi, liked my story and as we said our goodbyes, I was asked for my address and a few weeks later I received an autographed copy of the film.

Was this pure luck that in that moment of time I requested to relive myself and by this I saved my father and myself of certain death? Or somebody was looking over us.

There is going to be a second time when I saved life.

Arthur

      
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Received on 2010-09-04 16:16:46