Stella

A Short Story

As time passes, the collective memory fades, and the suffering of the victims eventually vanishes with them, to be replaced merely by stories, passed down, without the pain, without the full understanding. So, for the most part, those who come after do not comprehend, and fail to see the warning signs, the darkness gathering again, seeping down, swirling all around them, overcoming them imperceptibly, like the gradual onset of night. Courage deserts many among the few who do see, and they cower in fear, while only a select band is left to raise a cry, irrespective of the price to be paid.

This is more than a story. It is a lesson. It is voices from the past calling out their admonition to a new generation, pleading with it to open its eyes, be brave, and not allow what went before to happen again. Set in the Lodz ghetto in Poland during the Second World War, Stella tells the tale of a woman returning to her homeland after half a century to pay homage to a light that once shone brightly through the darkest period in her life.