Tomlinson-Online - How My Grandfather Stole a Shoe (And Survived the Holocaust in Ukraine)

During World War II, approximately 10,000 Moldovan Jews were imprisoned in the Obodovka ghetto, located in the Romanian-occupied part of Ukraine. Unlike the areas under German control where Jews faced systematic extermination, survival rates were marginally higher under Romanian occupation, as soldiers there did not pursue mass executions with bullets. Despite this, most of the ghetto's inhabitants succumbed to starvation and disease during the harsh first winter. Journalist Julie Masis captures this lesser-known chapter of the Holocaust through the memories of her grandfather Shlomo Masis, a survivor who lived to the remarkable age of 102. His recollections reveal stories of resilience, including how some Ukrainians aided the Jews in the ghetto. Masis also delves into a poignant family legend about a German medic who reportedly fell in love with her Jewish grandmother. This narrative sheds light on both the horrors and the unexpected human connections that emerged during one of history's darkest periods.

One hundred candles Introduction PART ONE: GRANDPA How the war started The rug that hung on the wall Thrown out of a moving train The Zguritsa pogrom The fruit trees that grew along the roads How my grandfather stole a shoe The bird that wanted to be free How the youngest brother died The airport and the hospital The selection Villages at dusk The frozen bodies The Nazi who rode a motorcycle Why did Haim come back? The unlucky wedding Barefoot in the snow Grandpa wants to go outside Two buckets of potatoes and a broken bottle If they didn’t have bread, they gave potatoes Adam and Eve How Grandpa saved his brother Forced labor How curiosity saved Grandpa The collective farm Not like Schindler How I wore Grandpa’s sweatpants The partisans who dressed up as Nazis Visitors at the nursing home The soldiers with feathers Never too old to dance How Grandpa milled grain Have a good year PART TWO: GRANDMA From Romania to the Soviet Union The ticket to America The uncle who sold bagels Ten years for telling a joke The truck that came too late Expelled from Soroca Vertujani The frostbitten feet The German wallet A conversation The stolen bread The fake email Retaliation An unexpected meeting A love story in the ghetto? Did Grandpa know? The Red Cross How Tsilia met Shlomo The couple who got married in the ghetto How the ghetto was liberated Romania’s responsibility How my grandparents got married The bag that took the train How Grandpa killed two Nazis How the war ended The drive home PART THREE: GRANDDAUGHTER How I was named Odessa—“Keep moving, you are not a tree!” On the road to Moldova A visit to Zguritsa Zguritsa before the war The cow in the cemetery The Roma capital of the world Chisinau, the capital of Moldova The trip to Obodovka A Ukrainian classmate The righteous among the nations Back in Odessa Chisinau in December Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine The synagogue of Orhei Jewish prayers are closer to God’s ears Crosses as Holocaust monuments Holocaust Street Chisinau in the summer PART FOUR: AFTER THE WAR The famine of 1947 How a poor man visited a rich man Potato diplomacy The free cookies Without his grandparents How the horse died Yahrzeit Childhood games The Blue Suit Showing disrespect The horse-pulled sleigh Antisemitism The man who wanted to make my father blind The only man in Zguritsa who had a car How a tobacco factory cured Grandpa The antenna The most important thing in life The matchmaker Grandma’s letters How my father got arrested in the cinema How my father sent butter in the mail The hospital on the way to America How we came to America How Grandpa got lost Grandpa’s trip to Israel Why Grandpa didn’t learn to drive Why Grandpa didn’t remarry Grandpa’s sunglasses The upcoming birthday How to communicate without words The interview The great-grandfather who had one leg One hundred and a half Language Grandpa’s lost address book Romanian citizenship Ancestors at a dinner party Acknowledgements