In my family, most of the things passed down the generations are either stories of loss or artifacts representing our loss. The artifact I chose to write about, a centuries-old Purim megillah that survived the Holocaust, is a vivid example of this.  The megillah has been passed down, not only for its inherent religious value, but as a symbol of what my family has lived through, and, perhaps, what we must always be vigilant about.

The megillah, a Jewish scroll chronicling the Book of Esther and traditionally read on the holiday of Purim, isn’t the most impressive thing to see at first glance- it is a rather small scroll with Hebrew calligraphy, tightly rolled to fit inside a cylinder of sheet metal. Yet, it has become a tangible representation of my great-great-grandfather and great-grandfather's Holocaust survival.
My great-great-grandfather had been forced to work in a factory, producing ammunition for the Germans. He hid the megillah, which had belonged to his father, in the factory, inside a sheet metal artillery shell. When he was eventually liberated from his camp by the Allies, he returned to the factory to find that the megillah was still there. He took it with him and his son to Israel in 1950. The sheet metal shell became a part of the artifact, and the megillah was used by each generation afterward until my grandfather had to stop using it due to the cracking of the calligraphy. Over the years, the megillah became treasured in my family as a sign of Jewish persecution, Jewish determination, and perseverance. 

– Ayelet Glaser

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more