Yoni: Hi Grandpa, I'm back home! (from Israel study program). Being stuck at home may be difficult... but not when I think about how you were stuck in a dark, gross hole with nothing to do for 18 MONTHS in Nazi Ukraine. How are you?
Grandpa Karl: Yoni - it could be a worse experience. When I was 10, I got a slightly different experience, ha ha ha!
I was not stuck in the hole - I lived in a hole adjacent to a barn. I learned a lot there. You can learn from every experience.
For EXAMPLE:
How to kill efficiently the lice which kept biting.
How to use one quart of water for all your daily wash up and drinking.
How to keep quiet and make yourself invisible
How to wipe yourself with tobacco leaves, instead of toilet paper. The leaves were acidic- caused itching.
I learned to write. Using The white borders of newspapers, instead of paper.
I learned to play chess.
I learned to be alone.
I learned to whisper.
I learned not to whine when I was always hungry.
How to pee into a bottle.
As for making number 2, i learned to wait until nighttime so I could do it amongst the barn cows so it would be hidden.
EVERY EXPERIENCE IS WORTHWHILE, if you use it.
PS : I don’t remember Pesach in the hiding place ....
