🌹🖤 GIORNATA DELLA MEMORIA - Storia illustrata sulla Shoah: LA BAMBINA DELLE ARANCE 🍊

🍊 THE ORANGES GIRL, by Francesca Buraschi Davide was a happy and carefree child. In the mornings, he went to school and in the afternoons he played with many other children in his neighborhood square. One day, however, laws were enacted that prevented Jewish children from attending school, entering shops, going to the library... basically, if you were Jewish, you couldn't do anything! Davide was also Jewish and was very sad about never seeing his classmates again. One morning, his mother sewed a six-pointed yellow star on his jacket. Why are you sewing this star on all my clothes? – Davide asked his mother. The law says that we Jews must be recognized by others – his mother replied in a weak voice – Everyone must know that we are Jews. At first, this seemed very strange to Davide. Then, one day, men in black uniforms arrived at their home and took him and his parents away. At that point, Davide understood that the star was a sign of recognition, allowing the Nazis to more easily identify Jews for deportation. Along with many other Jews, Davide and his parents were put on a train and taken to a concentration camp. In the camp, they had to work hard, ate practically nothing, and it was so cold that many people died of hunger and disease. Davide was separated from his mother and father and never saw them again. He was strong and healthy, but he was very hungry, and the food the guards gave him was very little, too little. One morning, he got up from his hard wooden bed, so hungry that he could hardly walk. He approached the barbed wire that fenced the camp and saw a very beautiful blonde girl on the other side. She was free and had no star sewn onto her clothes. Without saying a word, the little girl took an orange from her coat pocket and, with her gloved hand, offered it to Davide. To Davide, it seemed like a mirage; he approached the barbed wire and reached for the orange with his almost skeletal hand, then returned to bed, where he devoured it in bites, even eating the peel. The next day, around the same time, Davide returned to the same place where he had met the little girl. She was there, again. And this time she had two oranges to give to Davide. They were hothouse oranges, small but juicy, growing on two saplings imported from Andalusia before the war. What's your name? - asked the little girl. Davide. And yours? My name is Greta. Why don't you come play with me? - asked the little girl. I'm imprisoned, - replied Davide. There are evil soldiers who are keeping me locked up in here. They don't feed me, they treat me badly, and I have to work for them. Greta promised Davide that she would come every day and even bring him the leftovers from her breakfast. And so it was. Then, one freezing January day, some good soldiers arrived at the camp. They spoke a different language than Davide knew. They freed all the prisoners and took them to safety. Davide was safe. His parents and many others, however, had died in the concentration camp. Davide went back to school, grew up, got married, and had three children. Then he became a grandfather and told his grandchildren about the horrors of the war and the tragedy of the deportees. He also told them about the beautiful little girl who had saved his life by bringing him the leftovers from her breakfast and delicious oranges every day. Without that food, he probably would have died too. And yet, thanks to that little girl, he was now 75 years old: one morning he went grocery shopping and bought oranges, as he did every week, which had since become his favorite fruit. They were arranged in a pyramid, and as he was putting them in the cart, one fell, rolled down, and continued rolling like a ball of yarn. Davide chased it for a few meters, then bent down to pick it up. The mischievous orange had landed at the feet of an elderly lady. Davide grabbed the orange and then stood up. His eyes met the lady's, and everything around him stopped. Even though decades had passed, Davide would never forget that kind, gentle gaze. And even the elderly lady immediately understood who that man was. Once again, an orange had brought them together. Davide and Greta embraced with tears in their eyes. 🎶 Song: Snowy Field Music provided by MSC: https://bit.ly/msc-violin 🎂🍰 Follow us on Facebook too!   / pasticciotti.it   and on Instagram: i_pasticciotti_it