2022-12-23
領導在信箱裡收到一本自傳體小說，名字叫改變（Changed)。是加州一個叫Tom Cantor的猶太裔商人，因打官司賺了不少錢，就自費出版並在聖誕節期間廣泛散發的一個小冊子。篇幅不長，85頁，典型的商人體，文筆樸實無華，講他如何從一個頗具反叛性格的猶太裔小男孩，逐步轉變為基督徒的心路歷程的。
這些都無關緊要，緊要的是他在小說的第二部分講的二戰期間發生在德國猶太人社區的一個真實的故事，故事的主人公叫西蒙瓦塞曼，是生活在柏林上流社會中的一員，1932-33年的時侯想法從德國移民到了英屬巴列斯特。西蒙的一個朋友是蓋世太保的一個高官，1938年11月在希特勒開始大規模殺戮猶太人的前夕給西蒙寫信，說是給西蒙兩個星期的時間讓他自由出入德國，把在德國的父母兄弟姐妹等親人帶走。西蒙冒着自己的生命危險回到德國去勸說親人們離開，結果是遭到所有德國親人們的白眼和嘲諷，西蒙只好兩手空空，鎩羽而歸。
When he arrived, he showed his family the
letter and explained the reason for his coming. What do you suppose that his family
told him? They said, Simon, we are Germans! Palestine? Simon,
are you out of your mind? It is dangerous in
Palestine – there are Arabs in Palestine, bullets, plus it’s dirty — look at how beautiful it
is here in Berlin! You want us to leave the
beauty of this city for the sand, dust and dirt
of Palestine? Simon, look at the beauty of
our house and all our possessions! You want
us to leave all of this? The letter is a trap to
get us to abandon our possessions to your
so-called “friend” who is really just a thief.
To leave all of our possessions is a terrible
price to pay. Don’t speak such foolishness,
Simon – we are Germans. Simon again
showed them the letter and they reiterated that it was only a trick to confiscate their
nice home and possessions. Simon told
them of the reports of concentration camps
and mass exterminations and they replied
with Rumors, Simon – did you see these
camps yourself? Did you see any of these
mass exterminations? We are talking about
Germany, the highest civilization in the
world – don’t talk such nonsense. Simon
pleaded with them to consider Adolf Hitler
to which they replied, Hitler? He’s a madman – he will be assassinated. He will be
overthrown or voted out of office – he is a
temporary problem. Simon pleaded with
his family for two weeks and was finally
forced to leave Germany empty handed. All
of his family were murdered.
當然，西蒙走後，他在德國的猶太裔親人，都被殺害了。
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