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The First Pesach
Riva Minska, her siblings, mother, and relative celebrate the Jewish holiday of Pesach. They paint the house, clean, and Mama makes new clothes for her children and also Harry, the landlord's grandchild. Riva was only thirteen at that time. -
German Invasion
The German troops invaded Poland around 4:45 am. They capture all of Poland in only a couple days.The Germans had tanks. -
Auschwitz
The Nazis decide that the town Oswiecim(in Poland), is going to be the sight of a concentration camp. Auschwitz opens in June , 1940. This concentration camp is open until January 27, 1945 -
The Horror Caravan
In April, 1940, any Jew on the streets is pulled into a crowd of Jews by the Nazis, including Riva. They brought all the Jews to a railroad station, where men are taken to concentration camps or they are shot, and women and children return back home. Riva runs into a small boy and her friend, Abram, who is deaf. -
Lodz Ghetto
On April 30th, The Lodz Ghetto is taken off from the rest of the city with 230,000 Jews inside, even Riva and her family. There is no place to find work. Hunger and diseases spread all over the ghetto -
The Adoption
Social care workers were worried that Riva and her brothers didn't have a legal guardian with them. Riva doesn't want to be separated from her siblings, so she begs the social workers to keep them together even if they are going to be adopted. The social workers get papers that allow Riva to be the legal guardian of her brothers.She is now the mother of the children. -
The Seperation
Mama is taken away by the Nazis during a raid because they think that she is sick. Riva was who only sixteen years old at the time. Now she has to take care of her three younger brothers: Motele, Moishele, and Laibele. -
Motele and the Wood
Riva and Laibele are both illduring the winter of 1942, Motele helps some men take apart an empty shed to get firewood. The ghetto police finds out and tracks Motele down. They take him to court, where the judge questions him about who else was involved. -
Pesach in the Ghetto
It is spring and it is Pesach. The house feels empty without Riva mama and her brothers. Sadly Laibele, who was struggling with Tuberculosis, dies in the middle of the holiday. -
The List
When Riva goes to work at the factory, she finds out that she was on the list of teens to be deported from the ghetto. Mr. Berkenwald removed her name from the list and put another name on it. He knew that Riva needed to be with her brothers to give them physical support.