"Cry, little girl, cry!" the father of eleven - year - old Aliza urged her, after bribing a Slovak doctor to operate on her. Even though Aliza was perfectly healthy and did not need an operation, her father hoped that the medical treatment would save the family from being deported to the East. Little Aliska played the part and had the operation, and her family survived. This dramatic episode is only one of the many harrowing experiences that Aliza Barak - Ressler relates in her memoirs. "Despite the deportations, we children continued to attend the jewish school, and it was only there that we were able to forget the tension and the fear for a few hours, under the illusion that everything was normal. But every morning we carefully counted the number of pupils who arrived, because every day there were fewer of us..." Aliza's parents were determined to take action and survive. Their first priority was to save their daughters, whom they smuggled into Hungary. When the Germans entered Hungary, the girls were brought back to Slovakia and the family went into hiding for months in a pit covered with twigs in the forest. It was during this ordeal that Aliza experienced her first love. The winter of 1944 drove the family to seek a new haven. Fortunately they gained the sympathy of local villagers and of a priest, who urged his flock to show grace and mercy to the persecuted jews. However, this was not the end of their agonizing journey. An informer exposed the family's hiding place in the village and they were arrested and imprisoned. Even then, Aliza's father did not stop looking for ways of escape; with rare ingenuity and determination, he managed to shepherd the family to safety until the liberation. The family did not forget their benefactors and supported them generously for years afterward. During the Gulf War, another circle was closed when the descendants of the same Slovak family offered Aliza and her family refuge. "As my parents helped you survive in those hard times, I too want to give you shelter and protection against the missiles that are liable to fall on you."