Silver Sword Essay Example
Silver Sword Essay Example

Silver Sword Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
Topics:
  • Pages: 5 (1288 words)
  • Published: April 2, 2017
  • Type: Essay
View Entire Sample
Text preview

Joseph Balicki was a Polish man who was married to Margrit from Switzerland. Together, they had three children. When the second world war began the Nazis took Joseph to prison in the mountains. Their children were very young when the Nazis attacked them: Ruth was thirteen, Edek was eleven, and Bronia was three. Joseph Balicki frequently tried to escape, however the guards always caught him. For this, they locked him in a room alone. But, he had a plan. When the guard came to deliver Joseph's food, Joseph shot a stone from a catapult at him.

When the guard fell down, Joseph stole his keys and escaped to the a village a kilometer below the prison. He hid on a luggage lift and went from one side of the valley to the other. T

...

here, he met a man whom he told he had a gun. The man was afraid of Joseph, but, after talking, Joseph learned that he was Polish, too. Joseph gave the man and his wife some chocolate, saying "this is my gun. " The family looked after Joseph for two weeks and then he left. He walked for four and half weeks until he reached his hometown. He asked the mother of a child at his children's school where his wife and children were.

She told him that Nazis had taken his wife and his children were probably dead. He decided to go to Switzerland and wait for his wife, but first he went to his home. There, he found a silver sword that he had given to his wife for her birthday. When Joseph looked at the sword, a boy arrived and exclaimed

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

that the sword belonged to him. Joseph told the boy that if his children were to return to tell them of their father's whereabouts. Next, Joseph left for Switzerland. It was a snowy day when the Nazi arrived. They took Joseph's wife and then detonated an explosive in their home. The children escaped and fled to the edge of the city.

Edek worked with farmers and was paid in food. Ruth taught the other children how to read and write. One day Edek did not return home. Ruth and Bronia couldn't find him for two years. That summer, Bronia spotted a boy lying on some stones. He was sick and weak from hunger. They asked him his name and what it was that he carried with him in a wooden box. The boy said his name was Jan; however, he wouldn't let them look in his box. One day, Ruth went to a Russian soldier for food and clothing. She told him of her brother Edek who was still missing. The soldier gave her some food the next day and he tole her that her brother was in Posen.

When the Russian soldier came, however, Jan attacked him with a knife. Ruth had seen the knife before, but now was certain that it was her mother's knife. Ruth and Jan talked about it that night and Jan told her everything. Because of the war, he had forgotten their names and, as a result, didn't tell them of their father's whereabouts. Ruth then told her sister that they had to go to Switzerland to find their parents, but first they had to go to Posen to find Edek.

She didn't want to go to Switzerland without him. They went to Posen, but they were unable to find Edek. They then went to a field in a village with many other children.

There, some Russians gave them food; however, it was soon stolen by other children. They tried to fight the thieves off and in the process, Ruth broke on of the other children's hand. When she looked to see whose hand it was, she discovered that it was her brothers, Edek. They then managed to board a train bound for Berlin. Nine days after arriving in Berlin they found a camp in an old, empty cinema. There they stayed for few days. Next, they began their difficult journey. After a great deal of walking, Edek became ill. His cough was so bad that it kept Ruth awake at night. She decided that they must rest for a week.

Ruth and John found a job and bought new shoes for Edek. Meanwhile, Jan was caught stealing food from an American train and he was imprisoned for a week. After that, they went to a farm where the farmer gave them work. Edek had to work in the kitchen because of his illness. They didn't stay there long because they were found by Burgomaster who wanted to send them back home. They then escaped in canoes with help from the farmer. The water was dangerous at times and in the moonlight, they were visible to people in the villages. A man saw them and jumped into the water after them.

Ruth dunked him under the water and they managed to escape. Ruth and Bronia were in one canoe

and Edek and Jan were in the other one. Soon, Ruth lost sight of Edek and Jan's canoe and they lost them; however, they found them later in a forest. Edek was again very sick, so much so that he was unable to walk. Shortly, a horse-drawn wagon came along and took very close to their destination. They had came a long way and could even see Switzerland. They then had to stay in a refugee camp because of Edek’s illness before traveling any further. The camp official told Ruth that her father had sent her a letter.

She was very happy to hear this and the next day she tried to talk to her father on the telephone; however, unfortunately, the line was bad. The children then traveled with a Swiss boat, but when they hit a large rock in the water near the lake, the quiet little stream became a wide and treacherous river. Ruth lost Edek in the water and became very upset. She managed to find Bronia as well as a boat and they quickly boarded it. Following the events on the river, Ruth opened her eyes to discover that she was in a hospital. Her entire family was at her side: her father,mother, Edek, Bronia, and Jan. They were safe now and she was very happy.

They could now start a new life together. NO SMALL FISH, NO BIG FISH Fish are an important food source for humans. It is high in protein and essential vitamins. Fish oil is also very beneficial. Unfortunately, today our oceans and seas are in danger of over-fishing. If this continues, some fish may become extinct. We

hunt 90% fish of big fish and we use only 60% of our entire fish surplus. If fish were to go extinct, sea life would end. Fortunately, we still have time to change this. 10% of big fish are still living and 40% of fish feed all of sea life. If we stopped hunting small fish, we could fix everything.

We must not hunt fish before they lay their eggs. It wastes sea sources and causes unfavorable changes to the natural balance of things. However, when a fish grows and lays its eggs, it means many more fish. Hunters must be patient and wait for fish to reach the end of their life cycle before fishing them. In other words, we must allow fish to reproduce at least once during their lifetime. The Farming Minister must regulate the fishing industry in order for this change to occur. We must also be patient and never forget that we still have time to spare. Our ocean's ecosystems depend on it.

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New