Gert Berliner was torn apart from his family when he was only 14 years old. The Nazis had taken over the country and the Jewish were running here and there to save their lives. Gert and his family were one of them. Luckily for Gert, he managed to escape it by moving to Sweden leaving behind his parents. The man kept receiving letters from his father and one day it stopped suddenly. His parents were no more. But there was one thing that stayed with him through his good and bad days. It was his toy monkey.
Now the man was 94 years old and his toy was still with him. However, one day he had to bid farewell to it as he gave it to a Jewish museum. But that was not the end.
The monkey toy was gracing a Jewish museum of Berlin. It was very small in size and too ordinary to be noticed. The fur was worn out and the sides were torn. No one could have ever imagined by its appearance the power this tiny toy monkey held.
Gert Berliner who turned 94 this year has an interesting past. The man is a photographer by profession who likes capturing life in his camera. He came and settled in the United States in the mid 20th century.
The old man had always lived a reserved life. He had kept his surprising past to himself only. He spent his youth immersed in his work. And it is because of that he never got to spend much time with his family. The man remained distant from his son.
Though Gert Berliner never showed, he missed his family a lot. The family that he had left in Germany. The man was only 14 years old when he was taken to Sweden through Kindertransportan, an Underground Railroad type program. The program was only for kids. The boy could not pack many things.
The decision to transport him was taken in a hurry. He did not even have enough time to pack his stuff so his father stuffed his suitcase with whatever he found easily. He also put a toy monkey in his bag. The one he would keep with himself always.
The boy did not know at that time that his separation with his family was forever. He would never meet his family ever again.