Kanada (18 page)

Arrow Cross:
Hungarian fascist organization that controlled the government from October 1944 to April 1945 during the Second World War

Ben Gurion, David:
the first prime minister of the State of

Israel

Bricha
(translation,
escape):
illegal immigrant movement of Jews after the Second World War across the occupied zones to the coasts and then by clandestine ships to Eretz Israel. An estimated 80,000 to 250,000 Jews reached Eretz Israel with the Bricha.

cholent:
a traditional Jewish Shabbos dish made with meat, beans, and other vegetables and allowed to cook overnight
concentration camp:
detention centers set up by Nazi Germany before and during the Second World War for those considered undesirable by the Nazi regime. The prisoners, who included millions of Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, gypsies, and political prisoners, were terribly
mistreated and used for forced labor. Some concentration camps were built to exterminate people; many of the inmates were gassed and their bodies cremated. Auschwitz-Birkenau was the most notorious of these camps.

Displaced Persons
(DP)
camp:
temporary shelter for people who have been left homeless or been forced to flee their home country because of war, persecution, etc.

Eretz Israel:
the Land of Israel as it appears in the Bible. It is considered by the Jewish people as their homeland. During the British mandate from 1920 to 1948, this region was officially known both as Palestine and Eretz Israel when written in Hebrew.

gendarme:
a type of police officer in Hungary until the end of the Second World War. They were easily identified by their plumed hats.

gimnazium:
a Hungarian school with grades five to twelve that provided courses required for university entry

Hagana:
the major Jewish underground defense organization of Palestine. After the state of Israel was formed in 1948, the Hagana became the Israeli defense forces.

“Hatikva”
(translation,
“The Hope”):
Israel's national anthem

“Hava Nagila”:
a traditional Jewish song

Hitler, Adolf:
the leader of Germany during the Second World War

huppah:
Jewish marriage canopy

Jewish Brigade:
the only all-Jewish fighting unit that served in the Second World War. It was a part of the British Army. Members of the Jewish Brigade consisted of volunteers from Eretz Israel.

Kodaly, Zoltan:
a famous Hungarian composer
kosher:
food prepared according to Jewish dietary laws

lecso:
Hungarian dish made with rice, peppers, and onions

Mengele, Dr. Josef:
a notorious German
SS
officer and physician in Auschwitz-Birkenau who supervised the selection of arriving Jewish transports and decided who would live and who would be sent immediately to the gas chambers. He performed horrific experiments on camp inmates.

Purim:
a joyous Jewish holiday commemorating the time when Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination. The story is told in the Bible in the Megillah, the Book of Esther, that's read every Purim.

Rosh Hashanah:
Jewish New Year

shaliach
(plural,
shlichim):
emissary sent to postwar Europe from Palestine to bring the Jewish survivors to Eretz Israel

Shema:
a Jewish declaration of faith used as an important prayer

shul:
synagogue, a Jewish house of worship

Star of David:
six-pointed Jewish star

Yom Kippur:
a sacred Jewish holy Day of Atonement marked by fasting and prayers of repentance; falls eight days after Rosh Hashanah

Pronunciation Guide

Note: In Hungarian, the emphasis is placed on the first syllable of the word. Also, j=y, s=sh, and sz=s.

Agi – Agi

Deszo – Dedju

Gyor – Gyür

Istvan – Kicsi Ishtvan Kichī

Janos – Yanos

Jolan – Yolan

Jutka – Yutka

Lajos – Layos

Sandor – Shandor

Sari – Shari

Szabo – Sabo

Szucs – Sooch

I based most of the events in this book upon the experiences of my beloved father and my dear mother in Hungary before the war, in Auschwitz during the Holocaust, and in
DP
camps after the war ended.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to the four brave souls who also shared their stories with me: Saul (Joil) Alpern, Frank Weinfeld, Morris Faintuch, and Johnny Berkowitz.

I want to express my appreciation for the help given to me by Gisela Persaud, Arie Lavy, Blair DuGray, Jamie Kagan, and Dr. Pamela Orr.

I want to thank my editors Kathy Lowinger and Heather Sangster for never steering me wrong.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank my husband and my family for their belief in me, and their encouragement and support.

Copyright © 2006 by Eva Wiseman

Published in Canada by Tundra Books,
75 Sherbourne Street, Toronto, Ontario
M5A 2P9

Published in the United States by Tundra Books of Northern New York,
P.O. Box 1030, Plattsburgh, New York 12901

Library of Congress Control Number: 2005910619

All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency - is an infringement of the copyright law.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Wiseman, Eva

Kanada / Eva Wiseman.

eISBN: 978-1-77049-027-7

1. Holocaust, Jewish (1939 1945) - Juvenile fiction. 2. Auschwitz
(Concentration camp) - Juvenile fiction. 3. Refugees - Hungary -
Juvenile fiction. 4. Refugees - Canada - Juvenile fiction. I. Title.

PS8595.1814K35   2006      jc813′.54      C2005-907302-0

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada
through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program
(BPIDP)
and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media
Development Corporation's Ontario Book Initiative. We further
acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and
the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.

Typeset in Goudy

v3.0