Transcript of Narration

"This is now July 1944. The Russians were moving westward, liberating towns and villages along the way. People in Grabowka could hear artillery fire in the distance, and just after dawn on this day, Russian soldiers came marching through the village. Esther and her neighbors ran to greet them and offer them water, but the soldiers were ordered not to stop, to keep on marching. They were on their way to Germany.

"When Esther talked about this day, she became almost breathless, reliving the joy, the elation, the relief that she experienced then. But when she created this picture, she was also thinking about what she was to learn later. She says in the caption, 'Freedom had come for Mania and me, but for the rest of our family, it was too late.'"