In the previous episode of We Were the Lucky Ones, we witnessed the irony of the title and how the condition of the members of the Kurc family worsened once they were separated from each other within a span of a few days. Genek was taken to a Soviet camp, and even Andy’s ship was stopped in Casablanca. All the passengers who didn’t have the first-class ticket were kept in deplorable conditions. Halina, Adam, Jakob, Bella, and others were in Lvov, and even there, the conditions were deteriorating with every passing day. So, let’s find out what happened to the members of the Kurc family and if they were able to defy the odds.
Spoiler Alert
Is Adam still alive?
In the previous episode of We Were the Lucky Ones, we saw that Halina was taken by the Soviet soldiers, and it felt like they had gotten to know about her involvement in the Polish underground movement. Luckily, it was not so, and Halina was taken straight to the hospital as her blood group matched that of an important Soviet leader named Pavlov. When Halina was in the hospital, she noticed that a lot of wounded soldiers were being brought there, and she didn’t understand what was happening. So much blood was taken out of the poor girl that she felt nauseous. Somehow, amidst all the chaos, she managed to reach Adam’s house. For the past 18 months, Halina had been convincing Adam to move on in life, but that day she went to his place, and he believed that maybe she had changed her decision.
The Polish resistance movement had a meeting where it was decided that Adam and a few others who specialized in certain skills would go to Warsaw and help the cause of Jewish people. Adam didn’t want to leave Halina, but the latter told him that he should contribute in whatever way he could. Halina said that the people needed him more as compared to her, but Adam interpreted her words in a very wrong manner. Adam’s ego was bruised, and he felt as if Halina was not clear about what she wanted in her life. Soon, the news came that Hitler had turned against Stalin and that the German forces were going to take back Lvov from the Soviet Union. People broke into the houses of Jewish people, dragged them out on the streets, and started a pogrom. Jakob, Halina, Bella, and all the others were in a state of panic, not knowing how they should save themselves. At the end of episode 4, we saw that Wolf, the head of the resistance movement came to meet Halina and told her that Adam hadn’t gone to Warsaw, and as soon as he realized that German forces had captured Lvov, he came to look for Halina. Nobody knew where Adam was as if then, but I believe he will find Halina in the subsequent episodes, and they both will be able to escape from Lvov safely.
How did Addy escape the camp?
After Alsina, the ship on which Andy was on, stopped at Casablanca, the rich and the privileged were given the best possible treatment, but the ones who were not traveling in first class were made to stay in deplorable conditions in the camps. Addy knew that he would have to escape from the camp and find a way to get to Brazil. Addy told the guards that the people in the camp needed a lot of supplies, and he was ready to pay a good sum for them. The guards agreed as they also got an opportunity to earn some extra bucks, and they took him to the market area. Seizing the opportunity, Addy ran from there, and he learned that one last ship was leaving Cadiz for Brazil. Addy knew that he needed to be on that ship, but first, he wanted to find Eliska, and he was not going to leave without her. Eliska’s mother didn’t want them to leave, but the former made it very clear that she was not going to take no for an answer. Eliska had made up her mind that she was going to marry Addy, and so she and her mother both accompanied Addy. As of now, we don’t know if Addy and Eliska will be able to reach Cadiz or not because, clearly, the odds are not in their favor. But I believe Addy’s survival instinct wouldn’t let him give up, and he would find a way to turn the odds in his favor.
Were Mila and Felicia able to reach Jerusalem?
Mila took Felicia to her work, and when the German soldiers came for a surprise check, she hid the little one somewhere. Up until then, that strategy had worked for Mila, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to hide Felicia for long, and sooner or later, the Germans would take her away from her. Any mother wouldn’t want her kid to be taken away from her, but Sol and Nechuma, Mila’s parents, knew that if Felicia stayed with them, nobody would be able to save her. Isaac made arrangements, and he talked to a source where Felicia could live safely. In the middle of the night, the poor little girl was smuggled out of town, and Mila didn’t know if she should be happy or sad. Soon, Mila received a letter saying that Felicia was being sent back, and the family she was supposed to stay with refused to take her in as apparently she looked too Jewish. Mila decided that she would leave for Israel with Felicia, though she was worried about what her parents would do without her. Mila got the permit because she told the officer that her husband, Selim, was a doctor. Only skilled professionals or anybody who was sponsored by an Israeli citizen was given a permit during that time.
In episode 4, we saw that Mila and Felicia said their goodbyes to Sol and Nechuma and left in a convoy of trucks. Midway through, the vehicles were stopped, and all of a sudden, the German soldiers came and asked the passengers to step down. Those who tried to escape were shot dead, and the others were asked to dig the ground and not stop until they were told. Mila realized that there was a possibility that all of them would be shot dead once they completed the digging. Just then, she saw that woman go up to a senior officer, and she tried to woo him. That’s when an idea came into Mila’s mind, and she asked Felicia to run up to that woman and address her as “mom.” The little one did as she was told, and the woman took her in her arms and told the senior officer that she was her girl.
At the end of We Were the Lucky Ones episode 4, the German soldiers pointed their guns at the Jewish people, and that’s when Mila ran frantically towards the trucks. Mila would have to really beat the odds and pray to her gods in order to survive. The entire Jewish fraternity was walking on thin ice, and each one of them was dodging bullets every single moment. In the subsequent episodes, we would get to know what happened to the different members of the Kurc family and if they were able to reunite once again.
