WHERE WILL THEY FLY ME WHEN I AM DEPORTED?
Throughout my adult life I kept my passport handy in the top drawer of my night table. It was not locked up in my safe, nor stored in my office, but always, always within an easy grab. I am not the only one who practices this. My sister also does this, as does my wife, my son, and many of my Jewish friends and relatives.
We are creatures of personal history. We all have family or know friends whose families were kicked out of their countries at a moment’s notice, simply because they were Jews. I have uncles and cousins who were evicted from Nazi Germany before the war and deported to Poland. Poland kicked out their Jews in 1949, 1956 ( The Gomułka Aliyah) and 1968. The ladder two groups who were targeted were known as Gomułka1 Yidden, Gomułka's Jews.
If one travels to Israel, one encounters Jews from Iraq, Libya, and numerous other Arab countries who mercilessly kicked out their Jews after 1948, after living in those countries for thousands of years, way before the birth of Islam and Christianity.
One needs to go back 1,000 years to look at England, who kicked out their Jews twice and Spain, who did so during that historic year of 1492.
It is no wonder that so many of my fellow Jews keep their passports at hand, even in America, especially during these times.
The question is when (not if) I am deported, where will I be flown to? Do not kid yourselves, as we read in the news, one need not have a green card or a visa to be deported. People who were born in America are also receiving notices from ICE. The constitution be damned. I am a first generation American born in the United States. My parents, who were Holocaust survivors, arrived here in 1947.
Where will they fly me? One advantage that Jews throughout the world have today is the State of Israel. My wife and I are trying to be proactive and actively looking to make Aliyah to our historical homeland. We are also researching and visiting other "Safe Countries" as a possibility. We know full well that with the rise of antisemitism affecting each country, even in countries where there are no Jews, there is no such thing as a "Safe Country" outside of Israel.
Where will they fly me? Jews, throughout history had difficulty to find a country that would accept them. A thousand years ago the Polish nobility invited the Jews, who were kicked out of other countries, to Poland to help build and create their undeveloped kingdom. We know how that eventually ended up. The 1938 Evian Conference ended up with no country accepting any Jewish person who was trapped in Nazi Germany.
So then, where will they fly me? If I was being deported, there are two possibilities this government has. Israel is a possibility, and I would hope that would be the destination of their choice, since by that time, I will not have a choice to the matter. On the other hand, Poland may be another destination of choice. If the government would look at my family's history and documentation, Poland is a strong option. Besides, in the worldwide anti-Semitic rallies, people are screaming out "JEWS TO POLAND!!!".
It would be cruel to enforce the latter option. It would be evil. It would be antisemitic. I would be sent to a country whose citizens collaborated in the liquidation of my family and my people.
It is not happening yet. Today the government, in the name of protecting Jews in the guise of addressing antisemitism, is targeting Islamist radicals who have shut down college campuses during the past year, destroyed university buildings, fermented antisemitism and violently harassed Jewish students.
I can say there is an inner satisfaction, a comeuppance, of approving the current government actions, even though due process is not being applied. These targeted individuals are rightly getting what they deserve. I feel this as an American and as a Jew. Finally, I am not the target…yet.
Having said that, I do know this will not bode or end well for the Jewish people. It never did, and there is no reason to believe, after two thousand years of exile, this will prove to be any different. Jews always get the blame. When this episode of history ends, Jews will be blamed for this chapter. We are already being accused again, as we have repeatedly throughout history, that the Zionists2 run the government.
Where will they fly me? Let's hope my wife and I are proactive and will choose and emigrate to the country of our choice before that time.
In the meantime, B'Sorot Tovot- May We Live in Better Times.
Władysław Gomułka was the leader of Poland, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party, from 1956 to 1970. He was responsible for the anti-Jewish sentiment. He spearheaded the 1956 and 1968 expulsions.
Actually meaning Jews.
It is starting to feel like a matter of time my friend.