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"I hope they bring to you the comfort they brought to me.I send you my love, Tovah. At last I send you my love from America."

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"I'm too tired, Tovah, too tired for all this trouble. At this moment I wish I had never left Berdichev."

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"I'm too tired, Tovah, too tired for all this trouble. At this moment I wish I had never left Berdichev."

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"He said everything they earned they sent to me in Belgium.My dear family how much they had given up for me."

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" In Russia, all America meant to me was excitement, adventure. Now, coming to America means so much more. It is simply not a place you go when you run away. America is a place to begin new." (Hesse 90-91)

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"Antwerp is a wonderful city. The people are so kind and generous, even the children.
I play with them in the park outside my room. Gizelle is the name of the girl who reminds me of Hannah. She really isn't like Hannah at all, now that I've come to know her. She is more practical and solid than Hannah. She brings her ball to the park and we play catch. I have learned many bouncing rhymes though I don't always understand what I am singing. The children laugh at my accent, but not in a cruel way." (Hesse 66)

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Troy F.

"Mr. Fargate lifted the stamp that permitted Ilya from entering the country and thumped it down on Ilya's papers. He was going to america." pg. 137

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Many Russians sought to drive Jews from the country permanently by making their lives wretched. In the Russian Army, Jewish boys were assigned the least desirable tasks.
Often, if they survived the perils of their assignments, if they survived their inadequate provisions supplied them, they were just tortured or killed by their own comrades, the non-jewish soldier they served beside.
This climate drove thousands and thousand of families from there homelands-not just Jews, but many others as well. In search of a better life those families sought sanctuary in countries across the globe. We today are the beneficiaries of their legacy of courage and determination. (Hesse pg.148, the page in front of questions for the author)

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"With freedom's seed the desert sowing, I walked before the morning star..." -Pushkin

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Her relatives sacrificed so much time and money from working just to send her money for Rifka to get back home safely without ringworm. In the book, "Letters from Rifka", the HIAS lady says,"If your mama goes to America, she can work and make money for the family." This money would mostly go to Rifka and helping her get home safely and in good conditions. This is how their family had to sacrifice for her.

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William B: "Saul said they could not afford to buy candlesticks. He said everything they earned they sent to me in Belgium. My dear family, how much they had given up for me" (Hesse 111).

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William B: "Saul said they could not afford to buy candlesticks. He said everything they earned they sent to me in Belgium. My dear family, how much they had given up for me" (Hesse 111).

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"What you ask is impossible.The child cannot go."
43

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"She took my hand and guided it up to the top of my head. I stretched my hand out, expecting to feel the ringworm sores under my fingertips.
But I didn't feel ringworm.
I felt Hair!"
(page:143 paragraphs 12-14)

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(page 71 paragraph 1) "I am going to America! The nun, Sister Katrina, says my ringworm is completely cured, and the doctor signed my papers."

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"... In hope, in torment,we are turning Toward freedom, waiting her command..." -Pushkin (pg.33)

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Troy F.

I almost died at sea during a great storm. But I am alive. Not everyone had my luck though. But I am alive. pg. 81

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" "King Street?" he asked. "Come." The milkman clicked softly to his horse." (Hesse 62) Rifka wasn't defined here by who she was, as she spoke both Flemish and Yiddish to him. The milkman decided to help her get back home anyways.

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"And thoughts stir bravely in my head, and rhymes
Run fourth to meet them on light feet, and fingers reach for the pen" -Pushkin Pg 89

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"They think without hair you will never find a husband to take care of you and so they will have to take care of you instead."

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"My hair was the only nice thing about me. Still, I am trying to remember your advice, Tovah, to rely on my wits and not my looks."

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"Courage or not, of all of my family, only I could stand before the Russian soldiers, because of my blond hair and blue eyes." She is showing her bravery by standing up to the Russian soldiers. (Hesse 8)

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“Sister Katrina tells me I am clever because I learn Flemish so easily. I thought you would like that, Tovah, that someone thinks I am clever. “Really it is not so clever.” I tell her.”...”Oh Tovah, if I ever needed to be clever, it was now.”...”You didn’t know I would turn out to be a poet, did you, Tovah. Is that being clever?’...”A clever girl like me, Tovah, how else should I enter America?” (Hesse 57,125,137,144)

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Her identity might seem a little concerning, with no hair, but with her intelligence and smarts she belongs in America.In the book,"Letters from Rifka", Mr.Fargate says,"This is a very nice poem." Not only does she write well, but she speaks well in multiple languages even with her identity raising many questions. Hesse 141

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Sigrid N: "You said a girl must not depend on her looks, that it is better to be clever. But in America looks are more important, and if it is my looks I must rely on, I am to be sent back." (Hesse, 96)

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Sigrid N: "You said a girl must not depend on her looks, that it is better to be clever. But in America looks are more important, and if it is my looks I must rely on, I am to be sent back." (Hesse, 96)

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Troy F.

"I am too tired, Tovah, too tired for all this trouble. At this moment I wish I had never left Berdichev."

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"I have never been in another country before, not even in another village." "In my sleep, I had clawed at my chest until it bled." "It is odd to see Mama and Papa and Nathan so changed." "How can I live without Mama and Papa to care for me, to protect me?" (Hesse 20)

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"P.S. As I was finishing this letter a cry went up from the deck. When I went out to see what it was, I found all the passengers gathered on one side of the ship, looking up. They were looking at  Miss Liberty, Tovah, a great statue of a woman standing in the middle of the harbor. She was lifting a lamp to light the way for us." (Hesse 91)

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“Mama said “You don’t understand. She must go to America.” “She can’t.” the doctor answered. She has a skin disease, ringworm.”

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"When I went outside to see what it was I found all the passengers gathered on one side of the ship, looking up. They were looking at Miss Liberty,Tovah, a great statue of a woman standing in the middle of the harbor. She was lifting a lamp to light the way for us."
91

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" I'm too tired, Tovah, too tired for all this trouble. At this moment I wish I had never left Berdichev." Pg 88

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“I tried to speak , to say I would not die , that nothing would hold me back from America.....Papa begged for him to let us stay. “I promise to care for her,” he said.” (Heese 23)

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"What does this mean? Social responsibility?" I asked. "It means the American government is afraid they will have to support you for the of your life," the lady from the HIAS said."Your lack of hair makes you an undesirable immigrant. They think without hair you will never find a husband to take care of you and so they will have to take care of you instead".

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Troy F.

"I never knew strangers could be so kind. Do you think my brothers Asher and Reuben and Issac would have done as much. I hope so. pg. 65

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"Never mind the trouble my sister Rifka is going to enter America in style."

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"This was the courage of my papa, but how could he ever think i have such courage? courage or not, all my family, only i could stand before the Russian soldiers... Only i could pass as a Russian peasant." (Hesse 8)

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Sigrid N: "My heart banged in my throat. I had to keep the guards away from my family until Uncle Avrum arrived from the factory. I prayed for Uncle Avrum to come soon. Tovah, I tried to do what you are always telling me. I tried to be clever." (Hesse, 10)

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Sigrid N: "My heart banged in my throat. I had to keep the guards away from my family until Uncle Avrum arrived from the factory. I prayed for Uncle Avrum to come soon. Tovah, I tried to do what you are always telling me. I tried to be clever." (Hesse, 10)

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“She does not stay because she is comfortable and safe like you and Hannah and Avrum.Bubbe Ruth stays because she is afraid to leave,afraid for things to change.I am afraid too, but not so afraid that I want to come back.” (Heese 32)

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“To leave America without ever having a chance at it, to leave Mama and Papa and all my big brothers when I know how much they need me, I can’t let myself think of it.”

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Rifka faces the fact that not everything can go how you want it to go. For example, Rifka was not allowed to go on the steamboat and went to the HIAS where she was separated for her family. Later she was told that Pieter dies and she has to go through the sadness for that day. "No" the doctor said "your daughter cannot join you" (hesse 42)

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"I leave behind my cousins young and dear; They'll never know the freedom I have known, Or learn as I have learned, that kindness dwells, in hearts that have no fear" ( 140)

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"She took my hand and guided it up to the top of my head. I stretched my hand out, expecting to feel the ringworm sores under my fingertips.
But I didn't feel ringworm.
I felt Hair!"
(page:143 paragraphs 12-14)

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"They are holding me, detaining me on Ellis Island, at the hospital for contagious diseases.They wont let me go to Mama and Papa.They won't let me see them."

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“Even though we are homeless and our lives are in danger, I still believe things will turn out well. (Letters from Rifka 40)”

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At other times i think i am so glad to be who i am. Rifka Nebrot. Only daughter and youngest child of Ethel and Beryl Nebrot. Baby sister of Isaac and Asher and Nathan and Saul. When i think of myself in that way, even though we are homeless and our lives are in danger, even now, i still believe everything will turn out well." (Hesse 78)

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"In America, no one will take my gifts from me."
Page 80
February 25, 1920

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Rifka is such a brave girl. She set of with her family knowing that death my come to her ,but freedom is more important.

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"How can I live without Mama and Papa to care for me, to protect me?" -(Hesse 44)

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Troy F.
"I didn't want anything to do with him. Nothing. But no one should starve to death, Tovah. Certainly not a little boy."

"I lifted my plate and slid some of my own food and to his plate."

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"The heavy hanging chains will fall, The walls will crumble at a word; And Freedom greet you in the light, And brothers give back the sword." -Pushkin, Page 129

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“When I think of myself that way, even though we are homeless and our lives are in danger even now, still I believe everything will turn out well.” (Hesse 40)

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''Here, Rifka Nebrot,'' he said. ''Welcome to America.''

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''Here, Rifka Nebrot,'' he said. ''Welcome to America.''

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Rifka is accepted differently throughout the book. For example, Rifka accepted differently based on how she looks and the way she acts. She was accepted and got out of Russia mainly because when she was caught her hair and her accent saved her. This changed when she got ringworm and wasnt allowed to go to america and when she got her hair and she could read and write poems well she was accepted. In the book, Mr fargate says,"Rifka Nebrot,This is a very nice poem." This helped her getting accepted into America because of her writing and reading and speaking skills.Hesse 141

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"With this stamp I give permission for her to enter the United States of America."

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1st Name Last initial: "To turn my back on the part of me that is Russian is impossible. I am Jewish, yes, but I am Russian too. I am both Jewish and Russian. And I am also more. I am so much more" (Hesse #).

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1st Name Last initial: "To turn my back on the part of me that is Russian is impossible. I am Jewish, yes, but I am Russian too. I am both Jewish and Russian. And I am also more. I am so much more" (Hesse #).

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William B: "I have lost so much already, and now it seems I must lose more. I nearly drowned at sea in a horrible storm. But I am alive. Everyone did not have my luck. But I am alive" (Hesse 81).

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William B: "I have lost so much already, and now it seems I must lose more. I nearly drowned at sea in a horrible storm. But I am alive. Everyone did not have my luck. But I am alive" (Hesse 81).

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How do you thank people for such kindness? I never knew strangers could be so kind.

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"Saul and I both knew the truth. We'd left Berdichev to save his life. Because of this, I might very well lose mine."-(Hesse 153)

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"I'm too tired, Tovah, too tired for all this trouble. At this moment I wish I had never left Berdichev." (Hesse 88)

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"But Rifka must stay until her ringworm heals.
To leave a child of twelve?"(pg. 48) Rifka must have had bravery to stay at Belgium without her family in this new world that she does not know.