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A new Hanukkah classic and introduction for kids to the Holocaust.
About the author
Theodore Bikel was an admired actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He appeared in numerous Hollywood films and in 1959 co-founded the Newport Folk Festival. A seasoned Broadway actor and singer, Bikel originated the role of Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music and starred as Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof, a role he performed more often than any other actor to date. He was also known for his roles in My Fair Lady, The Defiant Ones, and was a frequent guest star on many popular television series. Bikel received many awards in his life, including an Academy Award Nomination and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Aimee Ginsburg Bikel is a writer, journalist, public speaker, and community organizer. She served as the senior foreign correspondent in India for Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's leading daily, for seventeen years. As the director of the Theodore Bikel Legacy Project, she is active in causes that were close to her and Theo's heart: social justice, peace, and Jewish Folk culture.
Noah Phillips is a Brooklyn-based writer, illustrator, and social worker. His artwork appeared in magazines, newspapers, and a book of children's stories called The Three Chickens and Five Other Stories.
Summary
A new Hanukkah classic and introduction for kids to the Holocaust.
Foreword
After a long and satisfying lifetime of unforgettable experiences, in the end, there was one memory Theo went back to most often: in his imagination, he was a boy again, aged 11 or 12, wandering the Vienna woods with his Mama and Papa. Even though the woods were only an hour away, going there was a special occasion that he looked forward to for days. Mama Miriam, with her bag of delicious sandwiches, cherries, marzipan and tea in a thermos would settle down on the striped blanket, preparing the picnic as young Te'o and Papa Yosef walked up and down the paths, singing, on the top of their lungs, in German, Yiddish and Hebrew, songs of love for their Jewish people, socialist and Zionist songs. After their picnic, chilled to their bones, they would stop in an inn at the edge of the wood for a bowl of chicken soup with liver dumplings. The inn keepers always gave Te'o a few extra dumplings in return for a pinch of his chubby cheek. At home, his Bube' (grandmother) was always waiting to hear his stories of what he had seen and what he had found, He could not imagine the horrors only several years away. He could not imagine he would have to leave his Bube' when he and his parents escaped to Palestine, only three precious exit/entry permits in their hands. Luckily, with hard work and a miracle, Bube' joined them in Palestine right in the nick of time.
Te'o, then Meir, then Theo, then the marvelous Theodore Bikel, became a star with adoring fans all over the world and a life full of happiness. But in his heart, he felt like a refugee for the rest of his years of never forgot the sorrow and the fright of having to escape his happy childhood, escape the people who had been his friendly neighbors, leave behind his books and his toys and his beloved Bube'. He could never forget that even though his own story had a happy end, the story did not end happily for countless others. But beauty and the light in his heart caused him to try and make other people's lives better; he did not become angry or bitter but instead let his own sorrow lead him to a life in service of goodness and justice.
In 2013, when he was almost 90 years old, The Austrian government invited Theo back to Vienna to sing in the Parliament, to the top elected officials, ministers, ambassadors, and army chiefs. The occasion was the 75 year anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of destruction described in this story. Theo sang to them in German, Yiddish and Hebrew, songs of his childhood and songs he sang over the next 75 years. He stood the proudly, his hair as white as snow and his talit draped over the podium, and told them: "I thank you for inviting me here to honor the memory of my people. There is a deep and momentous significance to this occasion: and that is that the mass murderers are gone; and I'm still here, we are still here, singing our songs of peace and freedom". —Aimee Ginsburg Bikel
