Charlene Schiff was born to a loving family in a small town of Horochow, Poland. She had a good childhood until one morning where her life would be changed forever. In 1941, Hitler decided to take over all of Poland, where his troops dragged off her father never to be seen again. Charlene, her mother and her older sister were sent to a Jewish ghetto where they shared a small room with three other families. Charlene was only 11 years old at the time. Her mother was forced to hard labor, the girls were sometimes put to work as well. In desperation for survival and safety of her children, her mother began searching for families that were willing to take Charlene and her sister. She was able to locate a farmer who agreed to take the older sister, so she was shipped off in hiding, but they never heard from her again. Soon after, her mother found another farmer who was willing to take the two of them. As they made their way to the river to cross out of the ghetto, shots were fired as soldiers were waiting for them. Desperate and afraid, they hid among the reeds in the water; most of the Jewish caught leaving were shot and killed immediately. The two of them spent four days in the water, eating soggy bread, while shots continued to be fired in the surrounding area. But on the fourth day Charlene woke up to her mother gone, nowhere to be found, she didn’t even know if her mother was even alive, until few days later where she stumbled upon a farmer who was wearing her father’s pocket watch that her mother had on her when they fled. She pulled herself out of the water, and found shelter on and off. She spent the next few years alone, living in the woods. She dug up a small grave for herself and hid there during the day, and at night she walked around finding food. It wasn’t until one morning in 1944 where she was discovered by the Soviet soldiers as they trampled on her body, took her to the hospital and was nursed back to health and ultimately made her way to America in 1948 where she created a life and started a family.
Charlene took her life situation and did something about it. Although she lost her father, mother, and sister, she didn’t let that stop her from pursuing survival. She did not have an easy life, nothing was handed to her. She had to fight for every meal and every breath and yet she kept on going despite falling ill and almost being caught by the Nazis.
We all have a story to tell. It may not be as heartbreaking as Charlene’s but it’s our story. A story full of memories comprised of laughter, wins, losses, tears, and lasting scars. You can’t control what happens to you, but you can control what you do about it. You can wave your white flag and give up, you can blame others and live the rest of your life making excuses and never getting anywhere, or you can get up, dust yourself off and take the next step for growth and survival. We cannot avoid life’s difficulties because nothing worth having comes without determination.