During March 1998, St. Paul's Anglican Grammar School, Australia, hosted an exhibition called "Courage to Care." In addition to the displays that told the stories of several Righteous Gentiles who assisted Jews during the Holocaust, speakers told the students of their experiences during the war. The following article is Briohney North's response to Abraham's story.
Briohney North
Strength. Caring. Courage. Abraham is proof these words aren't restricted to dictionaries or the blurb of a Bryce Courtney novel, but in the hearts of human beings. Abraham is not German; nor is he Russian, Hungarian, or even Lithuanian. Abraham committed the unforgivable sin of being born a Jew -- such a crime demanded the forfeit of life. This man is a victim, survivor and hero of the Holocaust.
Born in Vilna, Poland, in a time when Nazi domination lead to a deliberate and systematic robbery of Jewish life, Abraham became a partisan and fought against Hitler's "Final Solution."
I study the man. Fluffy white hair, dark busy eyebrows, nondescript clothing; not what I expected. He looks like a candidate for surrogate grandparenting. A person survives such an unimaginable experience and still looks normal? Yet, as I stare into his dark eyes, glistening with a film of unshed tears, I know this man has stories to tell.
The people of Vilna, when first herded into the ghetto, were unaware of the nightmare that was to come. Of course; how can we suspect humans are able to commit such incomprehensible acts? Abraham and his friends realized that Jews of Vilna and the surrounding areas -- men, women and children, were being slaughtered. "Then we knew that it wasn't just happening in Vilna, but all the occupied countries -- that's when we knew we had to do something."
Jews and Gentiles formed a group of resistance fighters in an underground operation; Abraham included. The men smuggled and stole weapons. Other ghettos staged revolts, yet Vilna stayed silent. Liquidation time came. "They didn't just kill ten or twenty, but thousands of people a day." It was not until the population of Vilna had been severely decimated, that the partisans finally waged war in the woods. Abraham had to walk through neck-high sewerage, escaping the ghetto, to fight. He did this, carrying a crippled friend.
By quirk of fate, Abraham met his mother and a moral dilemma. "I knew the end was coming. I knew she was going to die." Abraham had to choose to fight or be with her. "Why did I leave my mother?" To this day, Abraham does not know. It was not until the Russian liberation, that Abraham felt defeated. "I was lying on the bed; I could not get up." The horror had ended, but Abraham had lost all there was to live for: family, possessions, and friends. Abraham did get back up and that is the most important, courageous act of his life; defying the past and grasping the future. This man is living testament of true strength, caring and courage.