The strange coincidence of books coming into my life at appropriate time continues…. there have been multiple instances of books “finding me” or “choosing me” at appropriate time (and especially during my travels to Europe.)
I have written about my previous experiences here and here.
This time its about “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank.
The diary of Anne Frank was published in the Netherlands on 25 June 1947. Now this is where it becomes weird coincidence.
I pick up this book on 22nd March (but note, do not start reading it till 23rd June) and on 27th March we make plans for summer vacation in Europe. I have absolutely no clue that book is set in Amsterdam. On my flight to Amsterdam (on 23rd June), I start reading this book and was awed by the coincidence. I am again in same city while reading the book where it was written (and had reference). I fly out of Amsterdam on 25th June (on the day book was published).
From Amsterdam we traveled to Prague, Vienna and reach Budapest AND all this while I am reading this book (which has such a close association with holocaust). I had absolutely no idea about the holocaust impact in Budapest and how many Jews have died here. On our fourth day at Budapest, we decide to visit Dohány Street Synagogue which was just couple of blocks away from where we were staying. The young guide in Synagogue passionately explained us the history of synagogue and the fate of Jewish in Budapest. It was surreal experience for me visiting the synagogue and adjacent Jewish Cemetery ( The presence of the latter is quite unusual, as Jewish religious rules forbid the burial of the dead near places of worship. Its existence is due to the tragic events of World War II: in the extremely brutal winter of 1944-45, tens of thousands of Jews died in the Jewish Ghetto of Budapest, and over 2,000 needed to be buried in the courtyard of the Synagogue), which I think will have need lot of nerve to jot down.
THE BUDAPEST GHETTO
In November 1944, the Arrow Cross ordered the remaining Jews in Budapest into a closed ghetto. Jews who did not have protective papers issued by a neutral power were to move to the ghetto by early December. Between December 1944 and the end of January 1945, the Arrow Cross took as many as 20,000 Jews from the ghetto, shot them along the banks of the Danube, and threw their bodies into the river.
Only after visiting this site, I came to know that the apartment we have been staying in was in historic Jewish quarters!!!!
And I finish last pages of this book while I am leaving Budapest !!!!!!
Note to Self – need retrospection on what this book was trying to teach me and what life lessons my soul is yearning for in this lifetime. Coincidences can’t be so consistent and I have to learn to interpret these signs. I have to seek out my calling!!!
Reflections 