In a forest far from any settlement lived my uncle. My uncle was a timber merchant. He had three daughters and four sons, two of whom were already studying at university.
For the festival of Sukkot my uncle came home and brought with him a lot of money he had earned in his business. At home he met all his sons and daughters, who had come to celebrate Sukkot with him.
A gang of robbers learned that my uncle had a lot of money, and they gathered in the forest. When my uncle and his household were seated at the table, they fell upon them and tied them all up; only the little child managed to hide in time. The robbers killed my uncle, my aunt, his sons and daughters without pity and plundered all their property. As they left they set the house on fire from every side, and the little child was burned too, in great agony. The next day a telegram reached us that my uncle and all his family had been killed. How grieved I was that day!! It was as if I felt the pain of the little child who was burned alive. All that day I went about mourning and could find no rest for my soul. And to this day I have not forgotten that terrible event, and I will never forget it.
Moshe Fein (grade 6, Yavneh school in Pruzhany).