Chapters 24-Epilogue: School in Belgium; Coming Home; Epilogue Summary and Analysis

Chapter 24 related Alicia's travel from Austria to Belgium and the stall in her efforts to travel to her final destination of Israel. Escorted by an American soldier, the displaced persons group left Salzburg by train, traveling in a closed freight car, because they would be entering Belgium illegally. Once in Belgium, they were placed in the care of the "Joint," The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and housed in an abandoned monastery. The plans to leave on the next leg of their journey were postponed, and the group settled in for a rather long stay. Alicia began Hebrew and English classes, along with other children, but, as the only Pole, she felt uncomfortable and rather an outcast. The living conditions were less than ideal, as the monastery...