Alex+Hennessey

__**Entry 1**__
===A story of the Blumenthal family's life during the Holocaust. They are in Bergen-Belsen camp. The family was split apart at the camp into the men and women. 9 year old Marion, lay in a cold bunk, wrapped in her mother's arms. Soon it was time for roll call. After they were done, Marion only got to see her 11 year old brother, and father for a few minutes. Each member of the family had their own secret treasure... For Marions papa he had cigarettes that he traded just to get extra food for the girls. For Marion she had a different type of treasure. She collected pebbles, trying to get four of the same size. If she could find four it meant her family would survive. She had many different collections of pebbles, but no groups of four. Also the living conditions in the camp were harsh. If you had to go to the bathroom, it was a wooden bench with holes in it, and a trench underneath. There was no privacy. Bodies would be dragged away from the camp every day. This family's story sounded like a fairytale that grew more and more frightening as it went on...===

__Entry 2__
===The Nazi party is gaining more popularity and power. It became the largest political party in Germany. The economy was very bad, and the depression that hit in 1929, had only made things worse. Hitler's message was that he would restore Germany's honor, increase its territory, and bring back its lost prosperity. Many people were surprised that Hitler would choose to hate Jews because they were less than one percent of Germany's citizenry. They were only about 500,000 in a population of 67 million. A boycott soon started. As Albert's carriage was being rolled down the street, children threw stones at it. None of them thought things would go back to normal.===

__Entry 3__
===Marion and her family were trying to get to America. They wanted to move their to escape the harshness of Hitler. They soon got the right from the United States to move their. All they needed now were visas to get there. The process to get the visas would take at least 6 months. Marion and her family hoped they would make it there as soon as possible.===

__Entry 4__
===About 18,000 Polish-born Jews were rounded up and torn from their homes and businesses. This began on October 28. They were all packed into trains and dumped just short of the Polish border. They were stripped of all their belongings except 10 marks. When they got to the border they were forced to walk the rest of the way into Poland. Many who could not find someone to take them in lived in stables and pigsties on farms.===

__Entry 5__
===Kristallnacht had just happened. Husbands, sons and fathers that were Jewish began to dissapear. At the office of the Gestapo many women sat inside waiting for information on what had happened. People were called up one by one of those who had valid papers on their family's intention to emigrate. They were told that their loved ones would be released shortly.===

__ Entry 6 __
===When the Blumenthal family finally reached Rotterdam, they began to expirience some difficulties. They were now living as exiles. The Netherlands had been tolerant of Jews, and had 138,000 of them living there. Marion and her family got transferred from one refugee camp to another. Marion couldn't fall asleep at night because she was scared of sleeping with so many strange children. She also cried a lot.===

__Entry 7__
===The Blumenthal family moved to Westerbork. It was a camp located in a desolate and windswept moor. It had terrible weather, but it offered a home to all sorts of Jewish refugees. On October 9, 1939, the first 20 families moved in. They each got their own "small house" to live in. They were all attached, but they were centrally heated. Many people moved in over the years. Soon they had to make barracks for all the new residents. Before the barracks were put in, there were only about 700 people and food was plain but plentiful.===

__Entry 8__
===The Blumenthals and everyone else at Westerbork were scared of where Hitler would hit down next. They wanted to move to a camp called Bergen-Belsen near Celle. They had to go there in the transit. They were in third class. There were no windows. It was cold and dark. When they got to Bergen-Belsen, they were in the section called the Star Camp, or Sternlager. The Blumenthals had received their visas while they were at Westerbork, but when they got to Bergen-Belsen, their names were not on the call list to leave. They were expecting to leave from Rotterdam, but Hitler's forces had already attacked there, so they could not board a ship.===

__Entry 9__
===The winter of 1944-1945 was the most difficult on the Blumenthals. This was the coldest winter yet. Food had become extremely scarce. There was no water to wash clothes, bathe, or even drink. Marion and many other women would warm their hands and feet with their own urine just to prevent frostbite. Marion's main occupation was to pick the lice off of her clothing and hair.===

__Entry 10__
===Ruth had been working in the kitchen for a while and managed to steal some potatoes,turnips, and salt. They made soup that night that took a while to cook. The gaurds were approaching so they hurried to hide what they were doing. In the rush, Marion tripped over the pot, and boiling water poured onto her leg. She was only ten years old and didn't even make a sound. There was no medical care available in the camp at the time, so Marion got a huge infection__.__===

__Entry 11__
===The war was still going on. Marion and other Jews heard of the fighting going on. Typhus and lice were spreading everywhere in the camp. Many people were sick and dieing. There were many food shortages going on. Also many people at the camps were taken away on trains. Marion and her family went along. They were being liberated.===

__Entry 12__
===Walter had died in the camp. The only ones in the family who survived were Marion, Ruth, and Albert. Marion got married to a man named Nathaniel on August 2, 1953. When the prisoners got out of the camp there was not enough food the Russians could supply, so they had to move North. Many farms and homes were abandoned all around the camp.===

__Entry 13__
===The whole family was devistated by the death of Walter. They were now living a good life though. They lived in a farmhouse and had plenty to eat. Everyone in the family had barely survived Bergen-Belsen. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were displaced. Families were greatly torn apart. They needed to find forgiveness.===

__Entry 14__
===Marion began her secular education in Dutch at a Montessori school that was near the Youth Aliyah home. The teaching was patient and caring. Many other teenagers were going to secondary schools. While Marion was at school Ruth was living with Walter's sister Rosi. Rosi had been hiding in Holland during the war.Marion's uncle paid for her to get her eyes fixed. Marion ended up in a room on a stretcher. She had a flashback of when she was in the camps and felt she needed to escape. She jumped up, ran all the way to the train station and left. When she came back she apologized to her uncle. He understood. She promised to reschedule the appointment as long as her uncle was right by her side until she had to go into the operating room.===

__Entry 15__
===__Marion and her family were celebrating and eating matzoh. They were with all their friends. Marion, Albert, and Ruth were sitting around the table telling their story of their experience. Its good to have something to keep your mind occupied, like with Marion's four perfect pebbles.__===

__ **Vocab 15** __

__5.Prosperous-Having good fortune.__
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