Inklings 2020

After a day in Weissenfels, we drove back to Berlin where MomPop dared to go to the Gestapo headquarters in late 1939 in a desperate effort to secure an exit visa. Later, we went to Cracow where Biba lived for a few months after his family was deported from Germany. And, finally, we went to Prague because, though Biba has visited or worked in about sixty countries, he’d never been to see what he called the prettiest city in Europe. We’d begun the trip in France. It wasn’t until we got to Normandy that the overarching theme of the trip really set in. At Omaha Beach on the 71st anniversary of D-Day, there were reenactors dressed as soldiers and nurses, and there were combat tents, swing bands, and crowds everywhere. It felt as if we’d just won the war. It felt as if the future was full of peace and possibility, which I realized was the reason Biba had taken us to Europe: he wanted us to see that his own life was evidence that even in the darkest moments of history determined individuals, groups, even nations can accomplish great things. Haiku Aliyah Cohen 41