Asia

Asia Turgel

Asia was born in 1922 in Vilnius, a city that at the time belonged to Poland. In September 1941, Asia’s family was forced to leave their home and move into the ghetto. There, her father and her three brothers were arrested, then it was Asia’s turn, with her mother and young niece. Nobody had time to even say good-bye to each other.
When she entered the camp, she was sent to one side of the selection line, while her mother and niece went to the other. Needless to say, she didn’t know what fate awaited them, but she sensed that joining them was not safe. Her mother and young niece were immediately sent to their deaths in a gas chamber. Asia didn’t know how she would survive the endless role calls in the snow and the cold. But she held on to the idea that she had to stay alive. Unlike some of the prisoners, she didn’t commit suicide by throwing herself against the electrified barbed wire.
After the war, she found refuge near Grenoble, in a house where former deportees were housed. It was there that she met Maurice, the man she would marry just three weeks later.
They settled in Paris, in a tiny room that felt like a palace. Asia was in love, but she didn’t want children. She remained haunted by the fear that the Germans would return and that everything would start again. When she eventually became pregnant, she thought of getting an abortion, but abandoned the idea when her husband threatened to leave her if she did it. She gave birth to a son, but never wanted any more children after that.
Asia is the sole survivor of a family, which consisted of over fifty people before the war. But she now has nothing to remember them by. All her life their absence has been a heartache for her. Asia wants to testify now, to talk about her story and her murdered relatives. It’s an overwhelming task for her. She feels that no one can understand, no one.