A Promise at Sobibór: A Jewish Boy’s Story of Revolt and Survival in Nazi-Occupied Poland

Epilogue: Life after Sobib

168 Epilogue: Life after Sobibór Iwas nineteen years old when the war ended in 1945, and I already knew I was a transformed person going forward in this world, thanks to all that I had experienced at the hands of the Nazi murderers. My childhood innocence had long ago vanished with the murders of nearly all my beloved family members and friends. As an impressionable teenager, I had learned that people are capable of unimaginable cruelty. Yet I had also witnessed inspirational acts of stunning heroism by both my fellow Jewish prisoners at Sobibór and the Catholic farmers who saved my life. No longer a hunted Jew, I gained the blessed freedom to live a life of meaning and joy—in short, a life that would honor the memories of my loved ones and the deeds of the heroes who saved me. Liberty also meant trying to start fresh, creating some kind of normal life that by itself would represent a defeat of the Nazis, who had wanted to obliterate me and so many others. In spite of wartime barbarity and the millions who were murdered, those of us who had survived prevailed. We could settle in a safe place where our lives would not be threatened. We could find work, and even have children as a testimony to our survival. After losing nearly everything, including most of my family, the United States gave me an incredible opportunity—first in the displaced persons camps and subsequently as a U.S. citizen—to build a new family and to devote myself to bettering the world in whatever ways I could. My New Family During my nine years with Rela, we had two children: Simone (born 1961) and Jeffrey (born 1964). My second marriage, in 1970, was to Susan, who was a teacher and a third-generation American. We met each other at a Saturday night Purim wine-tasting at a synagogue in Manhattan. Together we had three children before we divorced: Evelyn (born 1971), Joseph (born 1974), and Michael (born 1978). Everything changed for me and my family in 1986 when my daughter Evelyn was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a particularly virulent type of bone cancer. After a long and painful battle with the illness, including many difficult treatments, she died in 1989. Evelyn was one of a kind. In the hospital, going through the experience of bone cancer, she was more concerned about me than herself. Knowing how fragile my own health was, she asked the doctor not to tell me about her illness. She shared poems with me on the phone. Once at 6:00 a.m., from inside her breathing apparatus and knowing that her cancer was spreading, she called to wish me a happy birthday and to say that she loved me. During her illness, Evelyn wrote a beautiful piece that I am including here because it shows how loss, resilience, and hope were themes in her short life as well as mine. We both respected these qualities for the good they can do in the world. “An Accomplishment of Mine” By Evelyn Bialowitz On October 3, 1986, I received the most devastating news I had ever heard. It was my fifteenth birthday and the date I was diagnosed with bone cancer. My life and the life of my friends and family would never be quite the same. Over the past two years I have gone through chemotherapy, several surgeries, and painful procedures, so I am no longer a stranger to physical pain. When I look back at the past two years, I realize that I have adopted an optimistic outlook toward life. Speaking from experience, this is not a simple task, and I feel it is an accomplishment that I can and should be proud of. When I was first diagnosed, one of the first questions I asked myself was, “Why me?” Although I still don’t have the answer, people seem to have many ideas of their own. A good friend once told me that she thinks the reason is because I was so strong. When people tell me this, I tell them that when you are in my position, you have to be strong in order to cope. Another good friend of mine told me that the quality she admires 169 Epilogue: Life after Sobibór in me most is my positive outlook. When things are not going my way...