A corruption of the faithful, an exploitation of the angelic, a destruction of the young, blanketed the earth in the fall of 1941. The gift of innocence, so blameless and pure, but at the presence of absence, eradicates life. The righteous and the sinful, the just and the unjust, produced social barriers of uncertainty. In Under a Cruel Star, Heda Kovaly writes of a world filled fear and deception, of stolen innocence, flowers afraid to grow, and faith hidden in a shy little bird. Along with millions of jews, Heda’s life in Prague shook upside when the mass deportation began.
The trains that carried her, had no remorse. The Nazis that took her, had no shame. The barbed wires that held her captive, had no compassion. Heda’s freedom was taken away quicker than she could blink. Still, the Nazis had yet to take all her strength as she escaped from a death march and ran towards new challenges. The little bird two inches above her stomach continued to flutter and provide for her needs. Heda’s perseverance through the postwar years continued to strengthen as she refused to let it desecrate her soul. Still, the world pushed her even further.
Time stood still when Rudolf, her husband, was executed in the 1952 Slansky trial. So much was taken, so much was lost. The mistreatment of Heda based on her background presents itself as a reason for her depressingly early loss of innocence. Years of oppression and totalitarianism shattered everything Heda ever loved. Her reality corrupted, her life violated, and her soul diminished. Heda’s stolen innocence left her clinging on to the life of the little shy bird in her rib cage. Love; the inexplicable and irrational, yet beautiful instinct which stands for the definitive purpose of human existence.
The concept of love became rare during the second world war. It was still there, but hidden. Hidden beneath scared eyes and crippling bones. But even the smallest bit was enough to keep Heda going. Her and Hanka had a friendship that provided Heda with motivation and strength. “We shared a common destiny, a common journey, and at the end of that journey, maybe even the same death (Kovaly, p. 17). ” Heda, along with millions of other jews “wait[ed] passively for death (Kovaly, p. 16). ” The belief that love would triumph all became a coping mechanism for Heda.
Under all the hate and anger she made herself believe that the force of her little bird would conquer Hitler and eventually Stalin. During the post war years Heda and Rudolf coped together and had a special bond of love. They both lost so much yet they gained shared experiences that forever changed their lives. Another form of love that took place was when Heda escaped from the death march and went door to door of people she used to know in Prague. The families that took her in even for a short time pushed aside the consequences that lingered in the back of their minds.
Love was present in the souls of these people as they provided for Heda even if it was just a loaf of bread. Without love Heda may not have made it as far as she did. The bird in her rib caged continued to flutter. Hope; the mystifying and unreasonable, yet incredible instinct which provides reason for the continuation of a human existence. Heda’s little shy bird also carried hope. Diminished into time and space somehow she kept it alive and believed in it. It was present while Heda was in the camps. While she looked for shelter after her escape.
While she nearly starved after the war. While Rudolf was executed. And while she leaned out the window of a train saying goodbye to her old life. This force of hope controlled her life. The totalitarianism in Heda’s life had no sorrow. Every event continued to break down on Heda, but still she preserved. The little shy bird did not stop fluttered even at times of sheer anguish. She had to believe that one day everything was going to be ok. Head down, feet moving, the death marches ate at everything she had left. But she knew at least they were all marching together.
Hope was apart of the common destiny. As Heda’s life progressed hope came and went. There was times the little bird could not flutter its wings. It became very absent during the time of Rudolfs execution. On the very day when two men came to Heda’s doorstep, the white snow outside juxtaposed innocence and death so beautifully. It was as if hope lay in the untouched snow even while she was trembling with fear. The bird in her rib cage continued to flutter. “Three forces carved the landscape of my life (Kovaly, p. 5)”.
Heda’s invisible bird filled with love and hope gave reason to her existence. It lead her to overcome worlds greatest obstacles. Her human spirit did not lack what many people did during the takeover by Hitler and Stalin. Oppression blanketed Europe during this time and different people dealt with it in different ways. Heda and her family endured a lot of pain and suffering. From the Holocaust to Prague Spring the disintegration of Germany also disintegrated its people. The unfairness and madness of Heda and Rudolf’s lives forever corrupted their innermost beings.
It takes a strong kind of person to keep love and hope present in a life. Heda did that and even more. As did Rudolf, trying his hardest to advance by merit and ignoring the hierarchy in society at the time. Her resilience counter reacted with the ignorance of outside people. For her staying alive was not the hard part, it was the will to continue to love and have hope for the future and the world. Trapped by social forces, and raped of innocence, hope and love remained as predominate forces in Heda’s life.