the feast of lights

7/30/2019 The Feast of Lights

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THE FEAST OF LIGHTS

Christmas dayThe city forgot to cover itself with white,

fresh snowOnly a strange fog, like a thin cloth, embracing the

landscape after a heavy rain and some fairy lights shinning faintly in

the dark. Walking, Lilja could hear her footfalls; she was treading

slowly, as if something slowed her down from reaching her friends

house. She hardly noticed the moment she found herself in front of

Annas house. She rang the doorbell and soon entered the house with

the old and gloomy architecture. The fog made it look even more

peculiar than the usual and, for a moment, Lilja had the impression

that this enormous building lying in front of her was not the one she

had known for years summing up her own age.

Despite the unfriendly appearance of Annas home, the

inside was lighted all up, but by candles and not by light bulbs as

expected. Anna was Jewish, and she was celebrating Hanukkah with

her parents, the famous Jewish feast, that lasts eight days and

candles are lit in the memory of the rededication of the Temple to

God. Being the eighth day, eight candles were glowing in the dining-

room. Although it was not forbidden to switch on the light, Anna

found it more festive-like to move around with candles if going to

another room. After the special meal, her mother cooked for the

feast, the girls felt they had eaten too much and asked permission tostroll for half an hour. But not before going to the attics, a place

where hidden treasures and a mysterious past were concealed. The

adventurers found there an old tome, an anonymous diary, which

stirred their imagination for a couple of hours. Nevertheless, books

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cannot suppress young people` s energy and the girls tried to

persuade Anna `s parents to let them have a walk. At first, her

parents did not agree because it was starting to get late and because

of all the absurd reasons parents find to keep theirs and others young

daughters inside the house.

Finally, they made a compromise: half an hour around the

house, no farther. Yes, yes, the girls were delighted, kissed and

hugged them in an unusual tender way. (Unusual for they were to

return in only thirty minutes)The fog had grown incredibly thick in a

few hours, but the two friends were too determined to take the walk

so they ventured forward into the street. No more than five minutes

and they felt instinctively that they were lostirremediably lostno

human voice, no noise of automobiles, tramways, shopsAnna `s

neighbourhood was not a deserted area; on the contrary, it was

populated even during holidaysWhere had it all disappeared? The

two girls scarcely distinguished one another in the dark melted in the

fogA strident siren noise suddenly broke the grave-like

silencewhat could it be? They did not recognize it, and while trying

to realise what it was, they noticed the fog lifted, but the dark

seemed deeper. Some words in an unknown language were heard

Anna and Lilja were quite frightened, the thought it was late gave

them the shivers and that her family must be upset, therefore they

hurried back home. Surprisingly, they found the door open, they

entered, and Anna cried: Mamma, I am sorry I am late! We are

back! Instead of Anna `s mother, a middle-aged man, tall, blond-

haired and green-eyed appeared and told her in the same weird

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language: The soldiers are looking for you! Hide quickly in the

basement! The tall man then called Liljaa word that resembled

daughter

The next three days were horrid: hundreds of officers and

soldiers marched on the streets, gunshots were heard, and lots of

people were led with guns towards a puzzling destination. At the end

of three days of grace, Anna was snatched from her hideout by

some ferocious young men, in spite of Lilja `s desperate cries and her

fathers pleas and embarked on a train filled with starving, tired and

hopeless human beings. In vain did her father appeal to all his

superiors, having given dozens of phone calls and requesting private

meetings with many generals. Lilja could hardly learn that her dear

Anna was doomed because of her monstrous origins, and that she

had been marched to an infernal place where all the enemies of the

Arians were imprisoned. Sometimes, in the very few moments when

she was allowed to go out, she could hear people talking in low-voices

about the atrocities that were taking place at the labour camps, shedid not understand all the words, because they were whispered and

the wind was stealing them away from their lips. Lilja was not aware

of the time passing by, she lived as if in a trance, only once was her

attention drawn by a similar conspiracy-like conversation when Anna

`s name was pronounced. Was she her friend? Or were they hundreds

of girls named Anna who were being transformed in a commercial

namefor soap...? One thing was certain: that girl bearing her friend

`s name was dead, she could not endure the inhuman conditions of

living in those camps. Not long after this, the terrible news was

confirmed by her father from credible sources- he was, after all a

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merciful army officer, -who knew how to hide his compassion for

those poor souls.

At Anna ` s funerals, held on a foggy and humid day,

thanks to Lilja`s influent dad, the mourning girl broke down on the

edge of the grave. Lilja was torn apart and her convulsive crying

suddenly turned into a faint. Her strength flowed down with the earth

thrown on the lid of the coffin. When she woke up, she found herself

lying on the familiar bed, in her friends old houseShe turned her

head and saw Anna standing next to her, sleeping breathlesslyLilja

recovered her senses and tried to fathom what had happenedhad

she been dreaming? Now it was all over, they were back at her friend

`s place, she would leave soon, her own family must be alarmed of

her long absence. But had it been long? She rose, shook Anna, called

her name and when the other girl opened her eyes, she would give a

little cry of joy. The house was silent, the fog outside was dense; it

was wrapping everything in a whitish lightThe candles were burnt

down on the table, smoking the room. Anna stared at the ceilingmotionlessThe door opened and the same pale man with green

sparkles in his eyes entered: Komm meine Liebe! Deine Freunde ist

tott. Lilja could perfectly comprehend his words but refused to

accept them. In a deep fit of panic, she ran to the table and was

surprised to find the same diary, this time with her name on it. The

last entry dated from December 25th1942! Her hands were

trembling, she arrived at the window: in the bleak street, people

marching silently in columns to the railway station. All she could hear

were the trudging on the pavement, the strident voice of the officers

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leading the frightened people, all she could see was the grey sky and

the fog that was starting to disappear

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the feast of lights

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