635798

It was difficult to not get our hopes up. The disabling of the gas chambers was the only good news we received in November. Everything else wasn’t what one would consider pleasant.

635798 and Marta’s letters became more frequent. Each letter contained more updates. The Americans were bombing German cities, killing many. Marta’s husband, a man who was forced into the Nazi Party, was deployed to the Soviet Union. Schools were closing and money was scarce. The weather wasn’t helping in the least bit.

Now in the first week of December, Poland had about two feet of snow. 635798 and I were huddled against each, using our body heat to keep warm. We were staring at the Menorah (Siostra Katarzyna left no hints on how she got her hands on it) which was fully lit by now. I still had no idea on how Hanukah worked, even though I’ve been celebrating it for a week. 635798 was muttering some sort of prayer next to me. Her pea coat was wrapped tightly around her and her face was burrowed in a wool scarf. We held each other’s hands, hoping it would help keep them warm.

“How many more minutes do we have until it finishes burning?” I asked, voice shaking. According to 635798, we had to let the candles burn for thirty minutes each night.

“Five.”

We waited the five, and then 635798 got up to put them out.

“Ginar chatimah tovah,” 635798 said as she climbed back on the bed.

“And what does that mean?” I asked, smiling.

“’May you. You be sealed totally for. For good.’ Usually only H-Hasidic Jews say it. But I thought tonight was a. A good occasion.” 635798 buried herself against me. “It’s so cold.”

“How did you survive in the camp in this weather?”

“Well, during the day I. I was with Jürgen. But at night – don’t know. Every night I feared of. Of freezing to death in. In my sleep. Me, Chaya, and Shifre just kept. Kept close. Our one blanket never. Never helped much,” 635798 explained.

Just then, Aalyshah came into the room. She had her hands full of chocolate, nuts, raisins, and other tiny goods. She held them inside what seemed to be a top hat. After plopping them on the bed, she leaned herself against 635798. 635798 hugged her tightly.

“What are you doing here, Aalyshah? Shouldn’t you be packing?” I asked.

Aalyshah shook her head. “Papa says I’m staying during Christmas. And it’s too cold down there. There are people to hug up here. And I have great stuff.” Aalyshah reached into the top hat and took out what seemed to be a four-sided top. The symbols on it looked more like characters than letters. 635798 was beaming. “Siostra Katarzyna had one of the brothers of the church make it. We can play dreidel now!”

635798 was laughing. Before Aalyshah and I could say anything, she brought the materials to the floor and began to set everything up. My sister joined and I followed, clueless.

“How do you even play?” I asked.

“Well,” Aalyshah began, “each player gets fifteen of these things.” My sister dumped the contents out of the hat and 635798 passed them out. “Then we put one marker in the pot. Well, top hat. This was all I could find. The first player – I think that should be Six – spins the dreidel and does whatever the symbol tells her to do. On nun, nothing happens and the next person spins. On gimel, the player takes the entire pot. On hey, the player takes half the pot. On shin, the player puts one marker in the pot. The game ends when someone has all the markers.”

“And how do you know all of this?”

Aalyshah shrugged. “I was friends with Shifre, remember? She invited me over for Hanukah multiple times.”

From there, we began. 635798 rolled a hey, and took two chocolates. Next, Aalyshah rolled a nun, and before I knew it, it was my turn. I rolled, and after asking what my symbol meant, I put in a nut. The game continued for three hours, filling the room with laughter despite the freezing the temperature. 635798 won, but the winners varied the more we played.

Even though the game of dreidel was only played during Hanukah, the three of us continued to play it. There was nothing to do. We couldn’t go out, and I never felt like reading because I either read the book or I had no idea what Shakespeare was saying. The markers had to be changed from time to time. Sometimes we used cards; sometimes we used money. A few times we used spare scrap metal from a nearby blacksmith. I was getting better at playing and I no longer needed to ask what each symbol meant.

We played while waiting for news, and news we got. On December 11, the last gassing at Hartheim took place and then prisoners were forced to dismantle the chamber. In all, thirty thousand were gassed there. That gave us some hope, but then Vater sent a letter. At Bergen-Belsen, the residence area was turned into a concentration camp. There were too many signs of the war’s end. Whenever there was a positive one, a negative had to follow.

It was Christmas morning and Aalyshah, 635798, and I could be found upstairs, playing with the dreidel. Sure, there were presents, but Siostra Katarzyna didn’t want us opening them until she got back. She and the other nuns were at a mass right now. Every now and then, 635798 looked out her peephole to see what was going on. She had never celebrated Christmas and she was very excited about it this year.

I was in the midst of winning dreidel when Siostra Katarzyna burst happily in the room. She held a sac over her shoulder and Aalyshah and 635798 smiled. I even caught myself smiling.

“Presents for everyone!” Siostra Katarzyna exclaimed.

All three of us received letters from our loved ones. Siostra Katarzyna gave us fresh fruit and I couldn’t be happier. My first fresh fruit in I didn’t know how long. 635798 gave us scarves and Aalyshah walked around in hers, modeling. I had Siostra Katarzyna order the girls dresses and surprisingly, they came in time. 635798 seemed to be the happiest person alive as she held the blue satin dress in her hands. Aalyshah gave us new clothes. I couldn’t stop gawking at the tuxedo in my hands.

“So many amazing things,” I said. “Aalyshah, you should just stay here.”

She laughed and turned to 635798. “How was your first Christmas?”

635798 beamed as she nodded. She hugged my sister tightly.

“I could do this Hanukah and Christmas thing more often,” I said.

Everyone laughed, even Siostra Katarzyna. The four of us hugged. In the embrace, I prayed for more signs of the war’s end. If there was a God up there, hopefully he was listening.

December was the time for miracles after all.