8
One day, Jill had an idea to pass food through the fence to Benjamin every day. Every day, Benjamin received a piece of bread from Jill. She would hand a piece of bread from her sandwich to Benjamin through the fence, but they could not talk because it had to be quick. Some days she couldn't find him, so she had to trust another prisoner to give it to Ben. This continued until one day, news reached Jill about the liberation. On April 22, 1945, Oranienburg was liberated by the Soviet Union. Jill did not know what happened to Benjamin. She didn't know if he survived or got killed. She would not get the chance to know for a very long time.
In 1949, Jill moved to Boston to pursue a career in journalism. She was a very successful newspaper writer, and she wrote many columns about growing up during the great depression and living through World War II. One day while at a coffee shop in downtown Boston, she met a man who survived the Holocaust. He told a story of how he survived the concentration camps on a slice of bread given to him each day by his friend outside of the camp. He said the name of the girl was Jill. As he spoke the memories came flooding back. Could it be her friend? Astonished, Jill asked him his name, "Benjamin," he replied. Jill's jaw dropped. "The girl in the story was me." Tears of joy and surprise encompassed both of them.
They spoke for a while and Jill decided to interview Ben for her newspaper. She learned that he had fled Germany after the liberation of his camp. She also wrote a book titled Benjamin Blair - an Inside Look at the Holocaust in 1950. This book was the account of Ben's experience in the camps during World War II. This book became a New York Times Bestseller, and was awarded the Newberry prize in 1953. It is still a very touching and popular book today.
Jill and Benjamin have been in touch ever since and are still very close today.
- Andrew
to live in a house with no fireplace, and 30 people in the same room. He was put in a work unit at a factory outside of the camp. He was forced to work as many as 14 hours a day in any weather condition, and those who did not comply were beaten, sometimes to death. He was served 3 very small portions of food. The "meals" were fought over and caused more punishments for the prisoners. Every morning and evening there was roll call, and the live and dead prisoners were counted. The prisoners were forced to stand in lines, not moving, for hours on end, while the leaders counted. Any mistake would cause the whole thing to start over again. Life was horrible for Benjamin.
The Boston town hall, in the city where Jill and Benjamin met after WW II.