White_Wolf
Master at Arms
Apologies ladies and gentlemen for another post that has little to do with modelling as such. It's sharing an encounter that took place many years ago. For some reason it came back to me so I thought I'd share it. Thanks in advance for reading ..
It was in the late 1980's, I was out for a walk by the Danube river on a nice late summer day. I was sat on a bench and was staring at the lazy river when I saw this guy who was watching something far beyond anything the human eye could possibly see. What surprised me was the fact that he had a smile on his face and a certain look of serenity.
Those were times when you could hardly ever see anybody smile in that place. Everything was under one of the toughest communist regimes' control, food was on a ration and of the worst quality, there was no heating in winter, we had hot water at the tap once a week for 4 hours and cold water twice a day from 6-8AM and 8-10PM, electricity was cut off around 11PM and all that. Clothes were hard to come by, toothpaste tasted like cement before mixing, toilet paper was as smooth as 800 grit sandpaper. And if you dare say anything against the regime, you'd never see the sun again. Yet, this guy was smiling and looking serene.
I started looking at him, he was in his 70's I thought, clothes were clean but old, an overall image of "I have done the best I could" given the circumstances. He noticed me watching him and he said Hi, I replied and we started talking. I said to him that I did not mean to pry but it was a rare sight to see someone smile. He nodded and he said to me, "Let me tell you a story".....
He rolled up his sleeve and I could see a tattoo, the letter A, a dash, followed by a number. Now a tattoo was a bit rare at the time and it was usually an anchor, a woman, a knife or something like that. I had no idea what that was so he told me.
"I was a prisoner at the Auschwitz concentration camp, they tattooed us and this is my number"
That moment everything froze in my head. I had heard about Auschwitz obviously, knew the atrocities but to actually meet someone who was there was unreal.
"You wonder why I smile when everyone else is not? Because every single day when I wake up, I wake up in my bed at my little place. It's freezing in winter and melting hot in summer but it's MY place, and I wake up FREE. Every night when I go to sleep I do so with a little food in my belly and a cup of tea, I turn the light off before they cut it off for the night and I do so in my own bed as a FREE man"
It was like a whole universe opened up in front of me, I asked him "How did you make it alive? How did you manage to live?"
The answer was simple ....
"I wanted to come home" he said and then he went on ... "I knew there was little chance that I may see my actual home and family again but I called Romania my home and I wanted to go back. Never stopped believing that one day, just one day, I would go back and see my home again. I never stopped wanting it, I never stopped believing that God would help me even if what I witnessed as an inmate would make even the most fervent believer question their fate. Belief is what kept me alive so now you know, it really is that simple"
I was lost for words and, as I wanted to know more and more about him and his life, a car stopped and a family of tourists came out to look at the river and they were speaking a foreign language, they were German. He stood up, picked a few flowers from the ground to make a little bunch, walked towards them, gave the woman the flowers and started a conversation in fluent German with them. I don't know much German, just a few words but what happened next wasn't hard to figure out.
He rolled up his sleeve and showed them the number. They froze, I remember it perfectly, man, woman and two teenager kids, they just froze and they lowered their heads. I thought he was going to say something harsh, abuse them or something but, instead he gave the man and the woman a hug, kissed the lady's hand and gave them a smile. They apologized to him and offered him some money. He didn't take it which surprised me again. They went to a restaurant, probably they invited him to have something to eat and have a chat. All this was happening 2 metres or so away from me so I could see and hear everything. Before going with them, he turned around, came to me and shook my hand and said "Thank you for listening son, and remember, never stop believing in what you want".
Every time I think life is hard, difficult, unfair, lousy and all that, I do remember that man and that will follow me forever as a lesson in dignity, belief, forgiveness, kindness and that no matter how hard things are, always remember that tough times don't last forever, tough people do.
God rest him in peace wherever he is now, for all of happened that day I call him the A-MAN in capital letters.
Sorry guys, I felt like sharing this with you, it's not a happy story and yet somehow it is.
Thank you for reading,
Laurence
It was in the late 1980's, I was out for a walk by the Danube river on a nice late summer day. I was sat on a bench and was staring at the lazy river when I saw this guy who was watching something far beyond anything the human eye could possibly see. What surprised me was the fact that he had a smile on his face and a certain look of serenity.
Those were times when you could hardly ever see anybody smile in that place. Everything was under one of the toughest communist regimes' control, food was on a ration and of the worst quality, there was no heating in winter, we had hot water at the tap once a week for 4 hours and cold water twice a day from 6-8AM and 8-10PM, electricity was cut off around 11PM and all that. Clothes were hard to come by, toothpaste tasted like cement before mixing, toilet paper was as smooth as 800 grit sandpaper. And if you dare say anything against the regime, you'd never see the sun again. Yet, this guy was smiling and looking serene.
I started looking at him, he was in his 70's I thought, clothes were clean but old, an overall image of "I have done the best I could" given the circumstances. He noticed me watching him and he said Hi, I replied and we started talking. I said to him that I did not mean to pry but it was a rare sight to see someone smile. He nodded and he said to me, "Let me tell you a story".....
He rolled up his sleeve and I could see a tattoo, the letter A, a dash, followed by a number. Now a tattoo was a bit rare at the time and it was usually an anchor, a woman, a knife or something like that. I had no idea what that was so he told me.
"I was a prisoner at the Auschwitz concentration camp, they tattooed us and this is my number"
That moment everything froze in my head. I had heard about Auschwitz obviously, knew the atrocities but to actually meet someone who was there was unreal.
"You wonder why I smile when everyone else is not? Because every single day when I wake up, I wake up in my bed at my little place. It's freezing in winter and melting hot in summer but it's MY place, and I wake up FREE. Every night when I go to sleep I do so with a little food in my belly and a cup of tea, I turn the light off before they cut it off for the night and I do so in my own bed as a FREE man"
It was like a whole universe opened up in front of me, I asked him "How did you make it alive? How did you manage to live?"
The answer was simple ....
"I wanted to come home" he said and then he went on ... "I knew there was little chance that I may see my actual home and family again but I called Romania my home and I wanted to go back. Never stopped believing that one day, just one day, I would go back and see my home again. I never stopped wanting it, I never stopped believing that God would help me even if what I witnessed as an inmate would make even the most fervent believer question their fate. Belief is what kept me alive so now you know, it really is that simple"
I was lost for words and, as I wanted to know more and more about him and his life, a car stopped and a family of tourists came out to look at the river and they were speaking a foreign language, they were German. He stood up, picked a few flowers from the ground to make a little bunch, walked towards them, gave the woman the flowers and started a conversation in fluent German with them. I don't know much German, just a few words but what happened next wasn't hard to figure out.
He rolled up his sleeve and showed them the number. They froze, I remember it perfectly, man, woman and two teenager kids, they just froze and they lowered their heads. I thought he was going to say something harsh, abuse them or something but, instead he gave the man and the woman a hug, kissed the lady's hand and gave them a smile. They apologized to him and offered him some money. He didn't take it which surprised me again. They went to a restaurant, probably they invited him to have something to eat and have a chat. All this was happening 2 metres or so away from me so I could see and hear everything. Before going with them, he turned around, came to me and shook my hand and said "Thank you for listening son, and remember, never stop believing in what you want".
Every time I think life is hard, difficult, unfair, lousy and all that, I do remember that man and that will follow me forever as a lesson in dignity, belief, forgiveness, kindness and that no matter how hard things are, always remember that tough times don't last forever, tough people do.
God rest him in peace wherever he is now, for all of happened that day I call him the A-MAN in capital letters.
Sorry guys, I felt like sharing this with you, it's not a happy story and yet somehow it is.
Thank you for reading,
Laurence
