In Nineteen Thirty Three
Father owned a store
Here in Cologne, Germany
On Zepplin Street number four

Hitler had come to rule
And soon laws were passed
We couldn't go to school
But we didn't think he'd last

He built an army while
England and France sat back
Everyone was in denial
And jews became attacked

In Nineteen Thirty Six
We went to a kosher hotel
Away from current conflicts
Where we'd say farewell

Father met a man from Belgium
Who could turn Marks into Dollars
At conversion it had become
Our money was nine tenths smaller

Our business had been taken
My family left Germany while
Pretending to stay, how mistaken
I Paddled the Rhine several miles

Reaching the split, found Arnhem
Called my family and said the code
Next day took a train to Amsterdam
Onto a plane to Basel I would load

There my family met me
With joy but only brief
We had to drive to Italy
Seeking a little relief

Once there we turned for France
Only father was allowed within
So taking a highway and a chance
We made a plan to sneak in

The highway was on French ground
Though it ran to an Italian city
So for the highway we bound
Letting us head toward's Italy

We turned on another road and
Traveled to Nice where Father was
Mother stayed and we left again
To get our stuff, and we heard a buzz

It seemed that some would help us
Get us and a car over the border
We met a guard who apparently was
Happy to help us back over

He led us into a tunnel underground
We walked but caught and told to go
With no choice we turned back around
But he lead us to a railroad to follow

We walked along it for a long time
When a train came on us roaring by
Jumping down into a ditch with grime
Spraying us in oil with the whistle's cry

We finally made it in to French land
And there we stayed for quite a while
But in Nineteen thirty six, again
Horrid luck found us and put us on trial

All young refugees were to report to
An internment camp where we stayed
And built barracks to live in too
Hope was beginning to fade

Food was scarce and water was in lack
Eventually the German Commission came
Had come to see who needed to come back
Was hard to look at what the world became

The rest of us were ordered to prepare
To head off to a different encampment
By two friends we were hidden with care
Lead to the edge of the grounds, we went

Under the wire and down a road we strayed
We walked for about an hour or two
Found the place we were to stay
They gave us food and a room for us too

The next morning we boarded a bus
And took it for hours on end
Got off a stop before they'd ask us
For identification and pretend

Again we boarded a bus, not as long
And near our apartment it would roam
We finally made it back though not strong
Our parents greeted us back home

We couldn't stay, time was almost out
So we gained a passport to Portugal from
Neutral Rumania, and planned a route
Port-Bou, Barcelona, and then some

Walking through the poverty streets
In Madrid we boarded another train
Now towards Lisbon where we would meet
Our parents, whose hope never waned

We visited a visa consul and applied
For a USA visa, but our Portugal ones
Had ran out of time and John and I'd
Been thrown in jail, a block without sun

We stayed there until one day
We had a meeting with a Visa Consul
Our family had to prove a way
We'd make a living with stomachs full

John showed our plans and afterwards
Me and him were returned to the cell
Where we waited another week before word
Of us to come again and things went well

They filled out documents and papers
It had looked like a large book
We left from prison with a caper
Our hope returned and our heads shook

We finally had our visa for the USA
And soon took board a Portugese ship
We sailed for quite a long nine days
It wasn't exactly a pleasant trip

However everything was worth it
When we reached the American shore
A new life in a new land, I have to admit
I liked not being chased around anymore
 
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