The Girl in the Green Sweater

Girl in the Green Sweater

Chapter One KOPERNIKA 12 Like a princess. That is how I grew up, like a character from a storybook fable. At least, that is how I grew up for a while. I was born on October 28,1935, at a time when Lvov was one of the most vibrant cities in Poland. It was a magical place, a Renaissance city, only it was not the best place tobe a Jew. There were over 600,000 people in Lvov in the middle 1930s,including about 150,000 Jews. We were Jewish, of course, but we were not terribly religious. We observedthe Sabbath. My mother, Paulina Chiger, always lit the candles. Wecelebrated Passover. But we did not go to temple. On the High Holiday swe would go, but the rest of the year we observed at home or not at all.We would light the Yahrtzeit candles on the anniversary of a death, but we would not always say the prayers. We were Jewish by tradition more thanwe were Jewish by faith, yet a strong sense of Jewish identity ran throughour household. That came from my mother’s side of the family. Myfather’s side did not believe in God. They considered themselves Jewish,so they also had that strong identity, but it was more of a heritage than a religion. They were Socialists and Communists. They were more concerned with social justice. They would not be treated like second-class citizens. In their minds, I think, the thought that all people are created equal was away to lift the Jews to level ground. You see, even before the war, theJewish people in Lvov were sometimes made to suffer, usually at thehands of the Ukrainians. People today, they do not talk about this. Or theydo not remember. But it was so. My father told me stories about how heused to walk through certain parts of the city and Ukrainian boys wouldlash at him with razor blades taped to long sticks, tearing at his clothes.He said it was like a game to these boys, taunting and intimidating the Jewish men who crossed their path. This was not the only discrimination my father experienced, yet it is the example that has stayed with me. I did not know of such things as a small girl. All I knew was that we lived in a grand apartment and that I did not want for anything. I had fine clothes,wonderful toys. My maternal grandmother used to bring me souvenirs from Vienna, where she would go on buying trips for her textile business. She brought me a lovely silk robe, which I remember wearing constantly. I used to jump up and down on my parents’ bed, wearing this robe.Jumping with me was my imaginary friend, Melek. This Melek, he was myconstant companion. I talked to him. He answered me. Later, when we were in the sewer, he kept me company. I do not know how I came to invent this Melek, how he got his name. It was a nonsense name, Melek. Itdoes not mean anything in Polish. It was just a name. Melek. Together we laughed and laughed, jumping on my parents’ bed. Excerpted from The Girl in the Green Sweater by Krystyna Chiger withDaniel Paisner. Copyright © 2008 by Kristine Keren. Published in October 2008 by St. Martin’s Press