Torn

<p>Martha's story left a profound mark on my soul. When we met her she was a gentle radiant woman her broad smile and optimistic spirit shining through despite the weight of her past. At well over 90 years old she carried herself with an ageless warmth yet her eyes spoke of an unfathomable sorrow that no amount of time could erase. Her life was irrevocably altered by a heart-shattering decision made by her mother who in a desperate act of love sent her away on the Kindertransport. Stripped from her home her language and her family Martha was thrust into an alien world alone in a foreign land-far from the embrace of her parents her grandparents and the comforting presence of her cousins.</p><p> </p><p>The horror that awaited her was incomprehensible: her entire family was slaughtered murdered in cold blood. Yet in spite of this unimaginable loss Martha bears no bitterness no anger. Her heart despite the unthinkable grief it carries is free from resentment. She is a woman of grace kindness and profound gratitude-revenge as though foreign to her very being is a word that does not exist in her lexicon. Yet in the shadow of all she has endured she still fears the world reluctant to share her true identity a silence that is its own tragedy.</p><p> </p><p>With no descendants to carry on her family's memory my heart ached with the urgent need to give voice to her story-a story of survival love and profound loss. Her narrative must be told for it is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and a reminder that we must never ever forget.</p>