Thank-You Letters from Children

In the past four years I have had the privileged to talk to more than 2,000 school children abut the Nazi years, and my family's escape from Hitler's Germany to Shanghai, China.

Watching the children's faces and answering their questions after they heard my story of living with thousands of other desperate refugees in the so-called Shanghai Ghetto made me grateful for the understanding I could see in their eyes that hate and prejudice are wrong no matter where it happens.

On the humorous side, most of the boys are impressed that for four years in China I was never able to take a real bath, and that my pet was a cockroach on a string.

The girls are always touched by the advice from jolly Rosa Goldberg who sat on her wobbly, three-legged stool in the dirty, garbage-strewn lane where we lived. She'd stop me as I passed her and asked without fail: "So, what does Mrs. Goldberg always tell you?" I already knew the answer, but I always waited for her to say: "Go out an make a miracle today. God's busy; he can't do it all."

I've heard these words repeated countless times from the children who have taken it to heart. That's why it is so inspiring to talk with kids who are eager to confirm their beliefs that goodness can always overcome the bad in this world.

I have some of their thank-you notes and comments. They are heart-warming, touching and original—just like the youngsters themselves. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did receiving them.

Ursula Bacon

Letter 1, 2 and 3, 4 and 5