my grandfather was called non-human. my grandfather was called an animal.

my grandfather was an extremely patriotic man. when others moved away in fear, my grandfather stayed.
he was a proud man. he worked hard for his country and he loved his country and he had faith that his country would be kind to him in return.

then one day the government evicted three families of renters in his apartment. they found the three families in two apartment units as two families were living together. with the count of three given to them by the building superintendent, the government left.

when the superintended later saw my grandfather, he was shocked that he was still there. when they realized what happened -- the government never looked into the third unit because they thought they had everyone they were looking for -- the superintended evicted my grandfather on the spot. sorry, but they'll take me away too if they think i'm helping you.

my grandfather took some cash from under a mattress, his wife, and the infant who would one day become my mother, and left. they made a phone call. they stocked up a picnic basket. they took a train trip through many miles to a forest where they laid out their picnic. they didn't eat any of it. they took a walk further into the forest. a car was waiting on the other side. they handed over all their money and were driven to relative safety.


they lived there about a year, during which war broke out. not where they were. they were safe. they thought. but they left for another country anyway. it took many more months, but eventually they got out. only a few weeks later, the country they just left was completely overrun. they narrowly escaped a second time.

finally they made it to america.

everyone who survived that, and their children, and their children's children, swear that this cannot ever happen again.

millions upon millions were slaughtered like pigs.


after being called non-human.
after being called animals.


we.cannot.let.this.happen.here.