"Son of man, keep not silent, forget not deeds of tyranny. Cry out at the disaster of a people, recount it unto your children and they unto theirs." Yehuda L. Bialer

Welcome to Forget Me Not. This is the story of a grandmother who helps her grandchildren see the Holocaust not as text in a history book, but in a very real way. This story deals with a difficult topic and is suggested for mature readers.

Thank you much to Kanga from Scribbler's Abode for the amazing cover.

April 14th, 2007

Long Island, New York

It was a beautiful, early spring day in Long Island, and quite welcome after several weeks of rain. The glow lit up the even the grimiest of paved roads, glinted off of early season roses, and burst into every home. It tapped on the eyelids of late sleepers, enjoying a weekend respite from their alarm clocks, and tugged them out of their beds with visions of golf games, picnics in the park, or perhaps a lazy stroll with their dogs. A perfect, golden day such as this begged not to be wasted.

At least that's how 41 year old Evie Mueller felt as she threw open the curtains in her living room, letting the sunlight pour into her Long Island home. A quick look around, though, told her that perhaps the rest of her family were not as appreciative.

She sighed as she eyed her children. Dark haired, blue eyed, eleven year old Sam sat on the cream colored sofa, fiercely pounding keys on his game pad, oblivious to the world. Across the room her fourteen year old daughter, Ashley, paced as she spoke animatedly into the cell phone that seemed permanently glued to her ear.

"No!" She gasped, not noticing her mother watching her. "You think he likes Suzanne? Gross! I don't believe it. She probably started the rumor herself-you know how desperate she is."


She broke into a fit of giggles, shaking her rich brown hair back, then continued speaking. "Anyway, call Josie and see if she wants to meet us, ok? Call you back in five." She disconnected the phone and only then noticed Evie's scrutiny. "What's up, Mom?"

Evie smoothed her short, red hair back and smiled brightly, hoping that her children would feel her enthusiasm. "Isn't it a beautiful day, you two? A day that just makes you glad that you're alive?" She took a deep breath, enjoying the wafting scent of the flowers growing beneath the window.

"Sure, Mom." Ashley barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Her mom was just too much sometimes. Any minute, she'd burst into glorious song or something. "Anyway, I'm out of here in a few. I'm going to meet Chelsea at the mall."

"I don't think so." Evie's smile faded as she eyed Ashley. "I told you at least twice yesterday that we're all taking Grandma out to lunch today, remember?"

"Aw, Mom!" The groan came from both Sam and Ashley simultaneously. Sam looked up from his Gameboy, his eyes flashing mutinously, and Ashley folded her arms across her shirt front angrily.
"That's not fair, Mom! Since Grandma moved in with us, we're with her all the time! Now I have to give up my Saturday to be with her too?" Ashley's voice was pierced and resentful and Evie sighed as she gazed at her daughter.

"Ashley Lynn Mueller!" Evie started again, her pleasure in the spring day fading. Before she could continue though, a throaty, humorless chuckle came from behind her, and she turned around, heart sinking, to face her mother in law.

"It's alright, Evelyn. If the children do not want to go, they do not have to."

Elke Mueller shouldn't have appeared nearly as imposing as she did. The elderly, gray haired woman stood a petite five foot three, but seemed even smaller now that early arthritis had crippled her small frame, causing her to stoop slightly. She was only sixty-five, but health problems had ravaged her in recent years, making her look far older. Her frame shook slightly as she entered the room, but her gray eyes were as sharp as ever, and now they rested briefly on Ashley, who swallowed hard and suddenly wished that she hadn't spoken at all.

Why couldn't her grandmother be like other grandmas? Other grandmas were roly poly and huggable. They baked cookies, told stories, and pinched cheeks. Not Grandma Elke. She was thin, and hard, and spoke with a thick accent that gave away her German origins. Instead of cotton dresses and aprons she wore fancy dresses, sometimes furs, and jewels. She wasn't rich in the strictest sense, but she and Grandpa Frank, who'd passed away two years before, had been well off.

None of this made her more approachable. She rarely spoke directly to her grandchildren, but when she did it was usually with some reproach about their behavior. Ashley and Sam would have happily gone on seeing her only every few months, when she came from her Manhattan condo to visit, or their father had dragged them off to see her on holidays. However, Grandma Elke's health had deteriorated rapidly since her husband's death, and her son and daughter in law had no longer wanted her to live alone.

"It is not like I have meant to disrupt your life, Ashley." Grandma Elke continued as she walked stiffly to a stuffed chair and gingerly lowered herself into it. "It was not my idea to come live here, you may remember. Your father and mother simply would not let me alone until I agreed."

She sighed, and for once Ashley felt she and Grandma Elke were in complete agreement-neither one of them wanted her to be here.

"Elke, you tripped and broke your arm, and no one was there to help you." Evelyn's voice was gentle, but concerned. "What if it had been something worse, like a heart attack? Will could barely sleep at night worrying about you."

Grandma Elke shrugged, a small concession. "Yes, my son, he is good to worry about his mother. Even if he is worse than a nagging fishwife."

Ashley couldn't help but snicker at that, and Grandma Elke smiled thinly as Will entered the room at that moment, dark hair still damp from his shower, and his cheeks pink from an energetic shaving.

"Who's worse than a nagging fishwife?" He asked.

"No one, dear." Evie smiled and patted his arm.

"So, since we're not going to lunch, does that mean I can go to the mall?" Ashley smiled angelically at her mother.

Evie's sweet face drew up into a frown. "Absolutely not, Ashley. We are not going to let your temper tantrum spoil our outing."

Grandma Elke waved a dismissive hand from her chair. "No, Evelyn, I do not feel like going out today. I just want to sit here and relax." She sniffed the scent of Evie's flowers from the open window and an approving expression lit her face. "It is a nice day, but I am too old to go here and there."

Will and Evie exchanged worried looks. They knew what that meant. The proud old woman would never admit it, but many days she was in a great deal of pain. If she wasn't willing to stroll into a five star restaurant like a queen in her furs and high heels and boss the wait staff around for three hours, as she often enjoyed doing, then she was definitely having one of her bad days.
"Would you like one of your pills, Mother?" Will asked quietly, already heading into the kitchen to get it.

"No, no." Elke's voice was irritated, stopping Will in his tracks. "They make me fuzzy in the head." She exhaled. "I will just sit here quietly and enjoy the day."

"Great!" Ashley bounced up. "So I'll just be going-"

"Ashley, sit down." Evie snapped. It took a lot to get her temper rising, but Ashley was definitely getting it up there. "We will all stay home today, as a family, and do something together."

"Mom!" Ashley wailed, but Evie threw her a look that told her she'd pushed her too far. With a dramatic sigh Ashley closed her mouth, and sat back on the couch, pouting and muttering to herself.

"You should be more respectful to your mother." Grandma Elke said, looking in her direction. "In my day, children did not speak back to their parents, especially young ladies."

"Yeah, Ashley." Sam snickered, sparing a moment from his Gameboy to needle his sister. "Young ladies shouldn't act like that."

"And young men," Grandma Elke said, turning her attention to him. 'did not waste their time playing games that will rot their minds. Do you not have any books?"

Sam frowned at her words, and it was Ashley's turn to giggle.

"She has a point, Sam.' Will leaned over to his son and tapped the Gameboy. "Turn it off for a while."

"Aw, man." Sam grumbled but he turned it off and then immediately reached for the remote. "I guess it's TV time then."

"Sam!" Evie's voice rose.

Aw, come on, Mom, look, it's the History Channel!" Sam gestured at the TV. "See, I'm all about the learning."

He grinned brightly and Evie couldn't help but smile at her mischievous son. At least he didn't throw fits and act completely miserable like Ashley. Sometimes she felt like she didn't even know her own daughter anymore.

Ashley looked at the TV screen in time to hear the announcer say, "And welcome back to The Holocaust: Revisited. Our in depth, two hour look at some of the most notorious events in history."

She groaned. "Boooring."

Grandma Elke gave her a cold look, and then turned back to Sam as he started to change the channel. "Leave it on this. I would like to watch it."

"Figures." Ashley muttered under her breath. She couldn't even watch Degrassi re-runs with good old Grandma Elke around.

"Ashley, maybe you should go to your room." Evie spoke through gritted teeth.

"Maybe she should stay here." Grandma Elke's voice was still even cooler than usual. "She might actually learn something."

Ashley shot her a resentful look and Sam grinned widely. "Score! Grandma, 2, Ashley, 0." He chuckled.

"You might learn something too." Will looked at his son. "Did you two know your grandmother was born in 1942, in Germany, right as all of this was going on?"

"Yes, you've told us like a million times." Ashley scoffed. "Anyway, I know about the Holocaust. We had to study it in school, you know."

"And yet you remain unimpressed." Grandma Elke eyed her. "Apparently, they are not teaching it very well."

Ashley flushed. "That's not true. I mean, I think it's really sad and stuff. It's just-well, it was a long time ago."

"Indeed." Grandma Elke snorted. "Someday when you are my age you will realize how fast it goes." She turned away.

Evie and Will were both shooting Ashley reproachful looks by this time, and she felt her temper rise. Why did Grandma Elke always have to single her out? Was she supposed to go around crying about something that happened a lifetime ago to strangers?

"Well, what about you?" She felt the argumentative words slip out before she could stop them, and Grandma Elke turned back to her. "You were just a baby then. It's not like it really affected you, right?"

Grandma Elke's lips thinned into a narrow line, and her eyes grew flintier than ever. "You know nothing of my life, Ashley, so don't presume to speak to me as if you do." Her words were like ice chips evaporating in the air.

"Apologize, Ashley. NOW." Evie hissed the words to her daughter.

"I'm sorry, Grandma Elke." Ashley said in a small voice, looking at her grandmother's closed expression.

Her grandmother just nodded coolly in response, and returned to watching the television program as if Ashley had never spoken.

Nearly an hour of awkward silence had passed as they all watched the program uncomfortably. The only conversation was between Evie and Will, whispered talk about meals, chores, and what they had planned for the upcoming week.

Ashley, feeling somewhat guilty, made a half hearted effort to concentrate on the show her grandmother was watching so intently but soon her mind wandered off into daydreams about her friends, school, and especially Eric, her latest crush. Just as she was getting to the best part of her fantasy, where Eric asked her out right in front of Gina, her rival since grade school, the sound of her grandmother's voice interrupted.

"Evelyn, Will, would you not like to go out?" Grandma Elke asked suddenly, turning away from the TV.

"What?" Evie's voice was startled. "Would you like to go to lunch after all?"

"No, no." Elke looked at her daughter in law. "I mean for you and Will. Why do you not go out for a while, maybe for a drive? You can enjoy this nice day and I can spend time with my grandchildren."

"Mother, that's really nice but I don't think that's the best idea." Will scratched his head nervously.

"Why not?" Grandma Elke drew herself up and gave him a stern look.

"Well, if you get sick..." Will's voice trailed off.

Grandma Elke sniffed disparagingly. "If I get sick, Ashley can call the doctor or 911, the same as you would if you were here. Goodness knows the girl has had enough practice with the telephone."

Sam laughed, relieved to have a break in the tension. "She sets 'em up and knocks 'em down...Grandma scores again!"

"I don't know, Elke." Evie shot a cautious look at her simmering daughter. "The kids can be a handful. Maybe another time."

Storm clouds gathered on Grandma Elke's face. For a moment she looked as though she was going to break into an Ashley inspired tantrum of her own. "I am not some doddering, senile old fool with one foot in the grave. I do not need a babysitter. I want to spend some time alone with my grandchildren. Is that too much to ask?"

"Of course not, Mother. It's just that-" Will started again.

"Good, then that's settled." Grandma Elke stood up, cutting him off. "Well, you'd better be going."

"Mother, wait just a moment!" Will's eyes widened as he found himself and his wife being propelled towards the door by his small mother.

"Why don't you stop by the Farmer's Market before you come home? We need fresh vegetables. Goodbye now!" Grandma Elke practically shoved them out the door and closed it in their faces.

"One hour, Mother!" Will yelled through the closed door. "Call my cell if you need anything." The three of them heard the footsteps going down the porch steps and then the car start up.

"I thought they'd never leave." Grandma Elke breathed a sigh of relief and turned towards Sam and Ashley, who were sitting on the sofa open-mouthed. Her eyes were bright and Ashley saw with amazement that they were actually twinkling. Twinkling-there was a word she would have never used to describe Grandma Elke.

"Um, what's going on, Grandma?" Sam looked at her with wide eyes.

"I just want to speak to you, that is all." Grandma Elke shrugged. "Is it really so strange?"

"Yes!" Ashley burst out.

Grandma Elke raised an eyebrow, and she hurried to speak before she lost her courage. "You never want to talk to us unless you're going off about something. So you just wanted to tell us how rotten we are without Mom and Dad interfering, is that it?"

For a moment, surprise flitted across Grandma Elke's face. "Do you really think that? That I only speak to scold you? That perhaps I am not liking you?"

Ashley's eyes filled with angry tears. "I know you don't like me, Grandma. You never have."

"Oh, c'mon, Ash, stop being such a drama queen." Sam muttered, embarrassed by his sister's outburst.

Grandma Elke hushed him and then turned back to her granddaughter. "Ashley Mueller, that is not true. You are my granddaughter. I love you very much and I am proud of you. If I correct your behavior, it is out of love. I am sorry that you do not know this."

"Fine." Ashley sniffed, embarrassed by her brief lapse into tears. "Correct away, then."

"No, no. I do not want to talk about you. I want to talk about me." Grandma Elke smiled frostily and Ashley and Sam exchanged surprised looks. What was she talking about?

"Sam." Grandma Elke continued, ignoring their surprised expressions. "Go upstairs to my room. On the corner table you will find a box, and in the drawer, a photo album. Bring both down here, please."

As Sam thundered up the stairs, she sat back down on the couch next to Ashley. They waited in uncomfortable silence for a moment until he returned, slightly out of breath.

Grandma Elke opened the photo album with a sad little smile. "I would have shown you these before, but it is not my nature to bore my grandchildren silly with memories they care nothing about. But now I am thinking it is important for you to hear these stories. Maybe it doesn't concern you now, but someday, it might." She leafed through the pages full of black and white photographs silently for a moment, then stopped at one. "Do you know who these people are?" She asked, pointing a manicured nail at a couple, with their smiles frozen in time forever on the snippet of photograph paper.

"Yes. You had these pictures in your old place in New York. It's Great Grandpa and Grandma Bauer, your parents." Ashley answered, and Sam nodded in recognition. He was too young to remember the elderly couple, who had died a year apart before his birth, but he'd seen the pictures several times.

"Yes, that is right. Franz and Marie Bauer, my parents." Grandma Elke smiled slightly, put the photo album on the floor by her feet, then suddenly reached up and pulled her necklace chain out from where, Ashley realized for the first time, it had been tucked under her shirt. Attached to the thin golden chain was a tiny key. She watched her curiously as her grandmother carefully tugged on the chain until she'd pulled the clasp around, then unhooked it and detached the key.

"What's that, Grandma?" Sam asked curiously.

"Be patient one more moment, Samuel." Grandma Elke responded. She leaned forward, and picked up the box, which they now saw had a tiny keyhole. Grandma Elke turned the key in the lock and the lid sprung open. In a high state of anticipation, the children leaned forward, but were disappointed to see that the box only contained several folded, old and official looking documents, letters, and yet more black and white photographs.

Grandma Elke picked up the first photograph, looked at it for a moment, then handed it to them. "Do you know who this is?" She asked quietly.

Both Ashley and Sam stared at the photograph, eyes wide. It was a family, standing on a city street in front of a brick building. None smiled. The mother held a small toddler girl in her arms, while a sad eyed boy stood nearby. An older boy stood solemn faced next to his father. The older boy, and the parents all wore the symbol Ashley had seen so many times in old documentaries, including the one they'd just been watching. It was the star that marked the Jews. Ashley and Sam shot each other confused looks, then shook their heads.

"I don't know, Grandma. Were they friends of yours?" Ashley asked, feeling bewildered.

"No, Ashley." Her grandmother's fingers touched the photograph, her fingers trembling even more then usual. "You see, this is my other family. My mother, Anna Rosenblum. My father, Jakob. My brothers, Hershel, Moshe, and my sister, Esther."

"What?" Sam was the first to speak. "Grandma, what do you mean? Grandma and Grandpa Bauer are your parents. You just said that."

"It's not possible." Ashley chimed in, staring at the photograph once more. "I mean, that would make you Jewish. And you're not..." Her voice trailed off as she realized what her grandmother was trying to say.

August 11, 1942
Leipzig, Germany

Marie Bauer sighed to herself as she sat up in bed, looking around at the cracking, aged walls of her apartment bedroom. Her frown became a grimace as she noted the time on the upright alarm clock on the small nightstand next to the bed. 3:37a.m. For a moment she remained in the bed, blinking sleepily, trying to recall if anything in particular had awakened her. There was no sound and yet the tiny hairs on the back of her arms and neck began to rise. There must have been something....

After a moment of silence she shook her head. No, she was imagining things. There was no shouting from the streets, no air raid sirens, no sounds of breaking glass. It must be the memory of so many other nights that was making her so nervous, nights when sounds of chaos rent the air every moment.

Next to Marie, her husband Franz let out a soft snore and she looked at him enviously. He could sleep through anything.

With a sigh, she climbed out of the bed. She would get a glass of water and then maybe, she would be able to fall back asleep.

Marie was almost to her small kitchen when she heard the sound and froze. It was unmistakable...there was a soft tapping on her front door. Her heart leapt into her throat and fear suddenly made goosebumps break out over her arms. In wartime, a simple knock on your door was not so simple anymore. It could mean anything. It could mean... She stood silently for a moment, willing it to just be her imagination, hoping she would not hear it again. She was doomed to disappointment as the tapping turned into a gentle, but insistent, knock.

"Franz!" She called softly, afraid to raise her voice too loud. "Franz, wake up!" There was no response, and the knocking continued. Marie swallowed hard and tiptoed over to the door, leaning against it, heart pounding.

"Who is it?" She whispered gruffly.

"Marie? Marie, is that you? It is Anna Rosenblum. Please, Marie, open the door." A quiet, but desperate entreaty came from the other side.

"Anna?" Surprise replaced fear as Marie recognized her former neighbor's voice. Before she had time to rethink her decision, she snapped the pop lock off the door and yanked it open. Anna stood there, thinner then Marie remembered, her dark hair pulled backand her face tired and lined. She was trembling as much as Marie, wearing a long black overcoat and an expression of wariness on her face.

"Come in, Anna, don't stand there in the hall. Someone will see you." Marie hissed as she gestured impatiently for the woman to come in.

Anna hurried inside and Marie quickly shut the door behind her, snapping the locks back on and turning to the other woman. Irritation was now beginning to rise in her. What on earth had Anna been thinking, coming here? She could endanger them...what could she possibly want?

A soft whimper chased the thoughts away and Marie's eyes widened in shock. "Anna, what...?"

Anna swallowed hard, looking at her with tear filled eyes, then slowly she removed her hidden arm from beneath the cloak. Marie shook her head in wonder as the thin blanket fell off the bundle Anna was holding, revealing the tiny kicking arms and legs of a newborn baby, clad only in a thin red sleeper.

"She was born two days ago." Anna whispered. "My daughter."

"I see." Marie said, although she didn't see at all. Why on earth had Anna brought the child here? "And your other children, where are they?"

"They are with their father." Anna whispered. "Packing. We are being transported later today."

"Oh." Marie bit her lip and took a deep breath. "Anna, I can do nothing for you. I am sorry but you must go. Please."

"It is not for me that I ask." Anna whispered, stroking her daughter's face. "Marie, please."

Marie shook her head in bewilderment. What did Anna want from her? Money? They had little. A place to hide? Here? There was no where and the other woman knew it.

"Anna, I do not understand..." She started to say, but was cut off by her husband's voice. He stood , still clad in his blue pajamas, dark hair messy and unkempt as his blue eyes stared at them both.

"You! What are you doing here?" Rarely did Franz raise his voice, and even now, it didn't boom off the walls, but there was still a fierceness to it that jolted both women, spinning them around to see his stunned face.

"I...I came to..." Anna's teeth were chattering so hard now she could barely speak. Franz's eyes traveled downward to rest on the baby nestled in her arms and his expression softened slightly.

"When was it born?" He asked, a bit more quietly.

"Two days ago. A girl. We call her Lisanne." Anna repeated what she'd told Marie, adding the baby's name. Nervously, she cradled the newborn closer, rubbing her back as the baby whimpered again. "I came to ask-"

"It does not matter. The answer is no." Franz's voice was harsh, yet Marie, knowing her husband as well as she knew herself after thirteen years of marriage, detected the slight undercurrent of regret in his voice.

She and Franz, they did not hate the Jews, as so many of the people they knew did. They did not delight in the whispered rumors of the fate of the Jews that disappeared in the night, or passed by them on the street crammed into trucks like cattle. How could they? Once upon a time, those same people had been their neighbors.

Perhaps not friends, but like Anna, people that she used to see while shopping, nodded a polite hello to, occasionally exchanged a few words about the weather, or their children. She had not forgotten that, and obviously Anna had not either. Still, she did not understand why Anna had come. Surely she did not think that they would risk everything for a woman they barely knew.

Anna's face had gone even paler at Franz's words. "I know that I..."

Franz shook his head, cutting her off again. "Leave, please." He gestured towards the door.

Anna took an automatic step towards it, then turned back, her face pleading. "I would not come for me. But I know that you can save her. If I could know that one of my children will be safe, just one...."

"What?" Marie looked at her, startled, and then at the baby. "What are you asking?"

"I know that you do not have any children." Anna looked at them, taking a deep breath to compose herself even as the tears streamed down her face. "You could take her. You could say she's yours. No one will ever know. No one, except my family, even knows that she exists. She could be your daughter."

"No, that's impossible." Franz shook his head. "How can we not have any children one day, and show up with a newborn the next? It's ridiculous."

"There has to be a way." Anna whispered. "Look at her. What has she ever done to anyone? How can you look at her and not want to help her? Please, I am begging you. I will get down on my knees if that's what it takes."

"You need to leave. Now." Franz repeated, his voice gruff. He began to reach around her to flip the lock, but Marie, who'd stood as if melded into place during Anna's words, moved to block him.

"Wait, Franz. Wait one moment." She looked at the baby and her heart clenched. "You know that we cannot have children of our own. Maybe this is what we have been praying for. Maybe we could take her." Her voice was barely an audible whisper, the words shocking even her.

"Are you mad, Marie? Everyone will know! We could be arrested! And she would surely be taken away!" Franz' voice rose once more.

"We could leave." Marie's voice was picking up speed. "We could go to my family in the country. My cousins. We will tell them that we were afraid this child would be stillborn like our other one, that's why we didn't tell them I was pregnant. They haven't seen us in two years-they won't know. Anna's right-no one will ever know. What does anyone care about a harmless baby girl, anyway?"

"No, Marie, it is not possible." Franz shook his head, jaw clenched.

"Franz, look at her. Just look." Marie reached forward and took the child from Anna's trembling arms. "She is perfect."

"She is Jewish." Franz said flatly, but Marie saw the way his eyes became moist as they looked at the sleeping infant.

"She is innocent." Marie held the baby close. "Franz, please, let us try."

Franz turned away and began pacing the floor. "Marie..." He shook his head. "This is ridiculous. We will be caught."

He resumed pacing as both women watched him anxiously then suddenly he turned and walked back into the bedroom.

Marie put her hand over her mouth, close to tears. "You'd better go. Hurry now." She began to hand the baby back to Anna but just then Franz walked back into the room, holding an envelope. Walking over to them hurriedly, he handed it to Anna. Marie saw the flash of currency in it as the other woman took it, staring at him in shock.

"It is not much." His voice was emotionless. "But maybe it will help you."

He turned to his wife. "Marie, you must leave within the hour. You and the baby. You will take the first train out. I will give you the rest of our savings, and I will follow as soon as I can. I will have to tie things up here first, with work and taking our belongings. If we both just disappear it will raise too many questions."

Anna exhaled, looking weak with relief. "Thank you, both of you. God bless you." Quickly, she wiped her streaming eyes and then gestured to a small cloth bag that she pulled from her pocket. "There is some milk for her, but you will need to get more soon. Some clothes that she needs, but not much. A few pictures and letters. Maybe some day, you can tell her..." Her voice broke off.

A profound sense of grief and pity rose in Marie as she looked at Anna, and the urge to reassure the other woman overcame her good sense. "Anna, it will be alright. We will take good care of her and maybe someday, you can come back for her."

"We are never coming back." There were no more tears in Anna's eyes now and her voice was flat. "You know what they say about the Jews that go. They don't come back."

"Nonsense." Marie smiled brightly, falsely. "It is not as bad as that. If you can't come back, you can send for her when you get settled and safe. You will see her again, I am sure of it."

Anna lifted her eyes to Marie's, then smiled slightly, without warmth. "Such kind lies you tell, Marie." She looked at her daughter for a moment, and Marie sensed that she was fighting to repress any emotion left that connected them, breaking the bonds, so that she could walk away without crumbling.

"I will never forget this, not ever. If you do tell her, please, tell her how much we loved her. That it was all so she could go on. I must go back to my family now. Goodbye." With those words, she quickly unlocked the door, looked out cautiously, and was gone before Marie could think of anything else to say.

*****

Complete silence reigned for a moment as Grandma Elke carefully returned the photograph to the box, then looked at the wide eyed children. "Do you understand what I have just told you?"
"Your real mother was Jewish." Ashley whispered. "She gave you away to the Bauers."
"How could she do that, Grandma?" Sam asked. "Just leave you like that?"

Ashley shot him a 'Shut Up' look but the words were already out. Grandma Elke looked at them both quietly for a moment.
"Why do you think she did it, Sam? What do you think would have happened to me if she hadn't?"
Sam glanced for a moment at the black and white footage on the tv screen. The sound was turned down but the misery and fear on the faces of the people captured so long ago spoke volumes. He swallowed hard. "Oh."

"Did you always know?" Ashley couldn't contain her curiousity. "I mean, did they tell you? Your parents?"
Grandma Elke shook her head. "No. They did not tell me. I found out by accident." Her eyes turned far away as the memories came back.
****

Wurzburg (Bavaria) Germany
May 7, 1957

Fifteen year old Elke Bauer frowned as the sound of her mother's voice floated up the stairs to her.
"Elke, I have asked you three times now to go up to the attic and bring down the box of linens for me. Now turn off that radio and do it!"

Sighing, Elke reluctantly reached for the dial and clicked the program she'd been so absorbed in off. Knowing her mother was listening for the sound of her footsteps going up to the attic, she deliberately made them louder then necessary and added a heavy sigh for dramatic effect. Trudging reluctantly up the stairs, she banged the door to the small attic open and stepped inside, sighing as the sight of boxes and parcels stacked nearly to the ceiling met her eye.

Her mother had shouted up a description of the trunk Elke should look in for the linens, but she'd been so absorbed in her thoughts that she'd barely paid attention. She knew if she called back downstairs and asked her to repeat it, she'd be in for a long lecture about obedience to the parents and the importance of listening to instructions. Elke bit her lip. Well, they couldn't be that hard to find.

Hurriedly, she knelt down and opened the nearest trunk hopefully, and coughed as the smell of mothballs hit her nose. Waving it away, she frowned at the contents. It was winter coats, darn it all. She shut the lid and turned to the next trunk. This had to be where Cousin Elise kept the linens. For a moment, she struggled with the rusty catch, then finally it gave, snapping at her finger in the process. Elke waved the smarting digit in the air, feeling cross.

'This better be it because I am not looking any more. I will just tell Mother if she wants them to come up and find them herself.' The thought made her smile through her momentary irritation. There was no way she would ever dare to say such a thing to her mother, but imagining the look on Mother's face if she did... Elke chuckled out loud and then turned back to the trunk.
"This is not it." She frowned at the clothes inside the trunk. She was about to bang the lid closed when the sight of the familiar fabric caught her eye. 'This is our trunk-all our old things.' She thought, reaching out and feeling the fabric of a dress she'd long outgrown.

For a moment she was lost in memories, and then with a smile she reached into the trunk, shifting aside stacks of her much too small clothing and looking at through photo albums and old letters. It brought back good memories of school friends and innocent times.

She was still at it several minutes later when her fingers touched something hard close to the bottom of the trunk. Curiously, she reached down and pulled out a worn, dirty cloth bag. A small rectangle poked out of the corner. Reaching inside, she withdrew a small wooden box.
'What is this?' She wondered to herself. She was positive she'd never seen it before. It must belong to her parents-but why was it shoved into this dirty bag and hidden in a trunk? Curiousity quickly overcame her, and she opened the lid.
Inside the box was what looked like a letter, folded and folded again until it fit inside the small area. It lay on top of several photographs. Elke picked up the first one, expecting to see an older picture of her mother, or father, or other relatives that she might recognize.

Instead, the dark eyes that looked back at her did not belong to anyone she knew. Odd then, that they should look so familiar. She looked at the woman whose eyes held her so captivated. The woman gazed back serenely, her long, dark hair down around her shoulders. She appeared to be somewhere in her twenties. Anna, 1934 was scrawled in spidery, faded handwriting near the bottom.

Putting the picture of the unknown Anna away, Elke reached for the next. She immediately recognized the same woman but she was older in this picture, her face thinner, her eyes no longer serene but hollow and worried. In her arms, a curly haired little girl was nestled. Beside her, a dark haired man that Elke assumed was her husband held the hand of a boy that couldn't have been older then six or seven. A teenage boy stood near by, a near mirror image of the father. On the lapel of the parents, and on the older boy, there was an insignia. Elke stared at the picture. It was the mark of the Jews, the one they'd been forced to wear while the Reich was in power.
"But why do we have this picture?" Elke racked her brain, trying to remember if she'd ever seen any of these people before, if they were friends of her parents. She couldn't recall them. And she couldn't understand why it suddenly seemed so important to her to find out. She turned the pictures to the box, not bothering to look at the others.

'To my daughter,
I don't know that you will ever read this letter, and even if you do, I don't know if you will ever be able to understand what has happened to force me to part from you, my baby girl, part of my soul.
I never wanted to leave you. To make the decision to give you to the hands of the Bauers, people that I barely know, it tears at my heart. I have had you such a short time, and I wonder why God would be so cruel to force me to sacrifice you. But then I think, and I realize...it is not cruelty. No, little Anna, this is the gift that I give you. The first time I gave you life was only two days ago. Today, if my plan works, I will give you life again. '

'The true cruelty is that there is no haven for your sister, or your brothers. No mother or father should ever have to make the decisions that we have made. There is no hole deep enough for us to hide, no darkness thick enough to cover us, no hero to lead us to safety.

There is only hate, and fear, so thick it rots the air and we all smell it day and night. It is too much for one to handle. Someday I will have the understanding that we are all promised in the end but for now, I understand none of it. If I think on it too long, I am afraid I will begin to scream and never stop.
If you never know anything else in your life, know that your father and I love you, that we will never stop loving you, no matter where we go or whatever happens. Know that we did the best we could for you. Remember us.
Until We Meet Again,
Your Loving Mother, Anna'

Elke re-read the words, again and again. At first numbness engulfed her but then....she looked at the date on the letter. August 11, 1942.
'Two days after my birthday.' she whispered to herself, and yet she didn't want to believe. Couldn't believe. It could not possibly be true. Her eyes traveled back to the photo of Anna nestled inside the box and the truth slammed into her with the force of a speeding automobile. Those eyes...they were familiar because they were the same eyes that she saw staring back at her in the mirror every day.
"My mother." She whispered, staring at the picture. Anna's face stared implacably back and suddenly fury engulfed Elke and she stood up, the box falling to the floor and the contents scattering.

"No, no, no..." She knew she was speaking out loud, babbling, but she could not stop herself. The only thing she wanted to do was run, escape, downstairs, back to her room, back to a half hour before when she was sitting on her bed listening to the radio and she was still Elke Bauer, not someone whose whole world was nothing but a lie. She turned to run back down the stairs, but after only a few steps smacked right into her mother.

"Elke, what do you think you're doing?" Marie's voice was exasperated as she put her hands on her hips, standing in the attic entryway. "In the time it's taken you up here, I could have sewn a whole new set of linens." She was about to continue the scolding but her daughter's pale, stricken face caused the words to die on her lips. "Elke, what is it? What is wrong?"

For a moment, Elke's mouth felt much too dry to force words out before she was finally able to speak. "Who is Anna, Mother?"

"Anna?" Marie looked at her questioningly. Elke raised a shaking finger and pointed at the photograph behind her on the floor. Marie gasped and went white. Any lingering doubt Elke had about what she had found and what it meant fled.

"So it's true." She half whispered. "You're not my mother."

"Don't say that!" The words, although low pitched, exploded from Marie's lips. "Don't you dare say that, Elke. Maybe I did not give birth to you, but I have been your mother in every other sense of the word and I always will be."

She looked again at the contents of the box scattered around and sighed. "I had forgotten I left those up here. Your father made me promise to throw it all away." Her voice was subdued.. "And I was going to, but I kept seeing Anna's face and I...I couldn't. Maybe I should have."

Elke blinked furiously to keep the tears in her eyes from spilling onto her cheeks. "How could you not tell me?" She hissed.

Marie looked at her, shaking her head. "Elke, try to understand. We did what we thought was best for you, just as your birth parents did. A parent's choices are never easy."

Elke couldn't bring herself to speak for a few minutes. When she was sure she had her raging emotions under control she turned back to her mother. "What happened to them?"

Marie stood back up. "I..." Her voice trailed off. "I do not know."

"So they could still be alive!" Elke felt her heart clench. "They could be looking for me!"

Marie looked at her, not with fear or anger, but with pity. "Elke..." she began again, her voice gentle. "Do you realize how very unlikely that is?"

"No, it's not." Elke shook her head. "Other people came back; why not them? Why not at least some of my family? Maybe one of my brothers, or-" She broke off, the sadness in her mother's eyes sparking a resentment and hurt she couldn't have fathomed feeling even an hour before. Her voice rose angrily.

"Why didn't you do something? Couldn't you have helped them? Did you just have to stand by and watch?" She couldn't finish as her voice broke. She knew she was being unreasonable but suddenly the whole world seemed a cold, painful, hopeless place to be.
"Elke!" Marie shrugged helplessly. "What would you have had me do? Next you'll ask me to stand on the ocean shore and turn back the tide with my hands. It was out of my control!"

Elke could no longer stop the tears that began to trickle down her face. She covered her eyes with her hands as Marie crossed the room to her, putting a protective arm around her. "It's not fair! None of this is fair!" She sobbed, feeling both like a child again and older then she could ever imagine being.

"I know." Marie's voice was little more than a whisper. "I know it's not."

****

Ashley and Sam were silent once again, as they took in the story that their grandmother just told them. Ashley nervously chewed her lip as she tried to think of something to fill the mournful silence. Finally she couldn't resist the questions that wanted to burst from her lips.

"Did you ever find out, Grandma?" Sam had spoken the same words at the same time, and they both hesitated before Ashley continued. "Your family, I mean. Did you ever find out what happened to them?"

Elke's face went quiet for a moment, her eyes looking as though they were fighting to suppress the memory.

"For a long time after that, I tried to forget what I had found out. I wasn't ashamed...please don't ever think that. I just...I was young and I didn't know how to deal with it. I tried to pretend like it had never happened. Then I got married, and when I became pregnant with your father, things changed. Becoming a mother myself made me feel things I'd never felt before. I began to wonder about Anna, about what it must have been like for her, and suddenly I desperately needed to know what became of them all." She took a deep breath.
"After the war, so many families were torn apart, lost, survivors trying to salvage anything and anyone they had left. People tried to help. Several organizations were formed to try to and reunite the few that they could. I wrote to one with all the information I had. '

'After several months, they were able to locate a cousin of my father's, who had been transported with the rest of my family. He had managed to survive and was living in Israel. I wrote to him and in return he sent me this."

She reached into the box once more, and withdrew a yellowing letter which she passed to Ashley.

Ashley took it from her and began to read out loud.

'Dear Cousin Elke,

How can I express to you my amazement, but most of all, my joy in hearing from you? Never did I imagine that our family, after losing so much, would receive such a glorious gift to know that there is something left of Anna and Jakob, of all of us. When I read your letter I felt, for the first time in years, that God has not forgotten us.

I wish I could give you back some of the happiness and wonder that you have given me, and the few of us that are left, but sadly, I can't give you good news of your family. I will never forget that day, the day the order came for us to leave Germany. Jakob, Hershel, and I were separated from the others almost immediately. We were sent to Buchenwald. It was like being sent to hell, and I can say no more of it than that. Never had I imagined such a cruel place existed.'

'Anna, little Esther, and Moshe went on a different train with many other women and children. We never heard from them again. Later we learned that train had headed to Auschwitz. I think we both know what happened to them from there. Our only comfort can be that they suffer no more, but are in eternity.

Jakob became very ill after several months in Buchenwald and he died in my arms. His last thoughts were of his family, which I now know included you. After his death, Hershel gave up hope. He became reckless. It is my great sorrow to tell you he was executed in a barbaric manner for stealing food from the kitchen.

Again, I wish I had better news for you. But cousin, we can cry no more. Today we rejoice, because you have been returned to us. It is a miraculous day!

With much love,
Chaim Rosenblum'

Ashley's voice began to tremble as she read the last few lines. Carefully, she handed the pages back to her grandmother.
Grandma Elke looked at her and a now silent and somber faced Sam for a long moment before she tucked the papers carefully back into her box. After a moment of quiet, she spoke. "It was very hard for me to accept the reality, that they were gone forever. I continued to try to find out all I could about them. It seemed the least I could do. I kept in touch with Chaim, and his family, and my other distant relatives for many years, but one by one, everyone that knew my parents died. I'm the only one left to speak for them now."

Ashley swallowed hard and wiped her watering eyes. "I'm sorry, Grandma." She whispered after a moment.

"Me too." Sam added, his usually vibrant young voice serious.

"I know you are." Grandma Elke grew silent and the minutes ticked by, waiting for someone to speak.

Finally Ashley spoke again. "I can't believe Dad never told us any of this."

For the first time, Grandma Elke looked unsure of herself. She coughed quietly. "Actually your father...he doesn't know. I never told him. I never told anyone. Not even your grandfather knew."

"What?" Ashley and Sam both burst out.

"Why didn't you tell Dad at least?" Ashley added, amazement in her voice.

Grandma Elke looked down at the floor. "I don't know. I suppose I wanted to spare him. I did not want him to go through some of the things that I had, and like my mother before me, I just did not know how to explain it."

"Grandma, you have to tell him. He has the right to know!" Ashley exclaimed.

Grandma Elke nodded slowly, her eyes on Ashley. "Yes, you're right. I've kept this secret so long-too long. Maybe the two of you can help me tell him."

"Sure we can, Grandma." Ashley eyed her grandmother. Never before would she have thought the woman vulnerable in any way. Nor would she ever have guessed that Grandma Elke could ever need her help with anything, but looking at the moisture in her eyes, and feeling the slight tremors that shook the old woman, it was clear that she did.

Grandma Elke patted her hand and smiled at her with more warmth then she'd shown in a long time. "I am lucky to have you two." She hesitated for a minute, then continued.

"Don't make my mistakes, either of you. Don't keep silent. The people who died, they deserve to be remembered. And the people who knew them, and all the ones who survived to tell the tale, there are not so many of them anymore. Not so many of us. In a few years we will all be gone, and it will be up to you young people to tell the stories. Promise me you'll tell them." She squeezed Ashley's hand in hers. "Promise me you won't ever forget."

"We promise, Grandma." Ashley and Sam chorused. Ashley returned her grandmother's squeeze. "Really, Grandma, I mean it." She added in a low voice.

Grandma Elke smiled again at her. "Tomorrow is Holocaust Remembrance Day. I suppose that's why they are showing this program." She gestured at the TV.

"In the past several years, I've gone to a synagogue in my old neighborhood to light a candle every year for my family." She sighed. "I suppose I won't be able to do that this year, but telling you is the best thing I could have ever done for them." She took a deep breath. "I am glad we've had this talk." She sighed quietly, and looked straight ahead, falling silent.

For several minutes the quiet reigned, Ashley and Sam exchanging awkward glances behind Grandma Elke. Both were wondering what they could possibly say to her now. What could you tell someone who'd lost as much as she had?

After Sam had returned from putting her photo album and box away, Grandma Elke looked at them both for a long moment, seeming to sense their discomfort.

"Well..." she said finally, looking like she was struggling as much as they were. "Maybe we can...hmmm." She looked around for a moment and her gaze fell on Sam's PlayStation. Her eyes brightened mischievously. Watching her, Ashley wondered how she had failed to ever see this side of her grandmother before.

"You know what I would like?" She questioned her grandchildren. "I would like to learn to play this mind rotting game of yours. Will you teach me?"

Sam and Ashley exchanged confounded looks, and then looked back at Grandma Elke, who looked highly amused at their astonishment.

"Um...are you sure, Grandma?" Sam questioned.

Grandma Elke folded her arms. "Of course I'm sure. What is wrong? Are you afraid I'm going to beat you?" She smiled smugly.

Sam's eyes lit up as he realized she was serious. "You're on, Grandma! OK, this game is called Alien Nation. Your character is a space ranger, and it's your job to blow up the Slug Aliens and take over the galaxy, get it? Here, I'll show you!" He continued to talk eagerly as he showed Grandma Elke what buttons to press.

Ashley bit her lip and tried not to laugh at the perplexed look on her grandmother's face as she helped Sam explode aliens all over the screen.

She had a feeling Grandma Elke was going to exact a price for this unexpected bit of playfulness. Probably in the form of a day at the museum or something else that was both educational and dead boring. And strangely enough...the thought was making her smile even more.

The sound of the door opening caused the three of them to look up in time to see Will and Evie coming through the front entrance.

"We're back and we brought..." Will's voice trailed off as he saw his mother, game controller in her hand. He looked bewildered for a moment, then did an about face, speaking to his wife behind him. "Sorry, Evie, get back in the car. We've obviously got the wrong house."

"Very funny, Dad." Ashley laughed.

"Pizza!" Sam jumped up from the couch and dashed forward. "Gimme, gimme, gimme!" He grabbed the carrier from his mother and rushed over to the table. Ashley got up to follow, then looked questioningly back at her grandmother, who waved her off.

"I'm not hungry, Ashley. I think I'll go take a nap." Elke stood up slowly.

Ashley began to walk over to the table to join her family, then turned and walked back.

"Grandma?" She asked shyly.

"Yes, Ashley?" Elke queried, looking tired, but content..

"Um, I was thinking that maybe, if you want, that I could find someone to drive us to the city tomorrow. We could go to the synagogue after all, the two of us. What do you think?" Ashley bit her lip belatedly, hoping she hadn't upset her.

Grandma Elke stared at her for a moment, and then spoke slowly. "I think I would like that, Ashley, very much."

Ashley smiled back at her, and for a moment, just a moment, she could have sworn she saw not the elderly women who stood before her now, but a young girl, almost her own age, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, smiling back.

The End

See following pictures for thank you's. :)

I hope you enjoyed Forget Me Not and I welcome all types of feedback and critiques. Please let me know what you think.

Without proofreaders providing insight and feedback I would be lost. Thank you so much to Maxine, Channelly, Addie, Melinda, Itsumee, Andrea, Jae, and TiffToff. And a very special thank you to Navirae and Noa, who not only proofread but were with me all the way as I wailed and complained about how hard it is to put together an album. :D All of these people are tremendous writers and a huge inspiration to me.

And a huge, huge thank you to all custom content creators, particularly those at the amazing MTS2.

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