On this occasion, my older sister and I were playing upstairs. My parents were downstairs watching a PBS program on the Holocaust. As I ran through the room on my way to the kitchen, my parents say that I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at the TV. All the color drained from my face. On the screen was a video clip of concentration camp victims lined up behind a barbed wire fence, emaciated and broken, staring out with pleading eyes.
I became hysterical, screaming and crying so hard I could hardly breathe. They tried to calm me down and I strained to see the TV, just repeating, "Why are they there? Why are they there?" over and over again.
My parents turned off the TV and tried to help me get a grip and calm down. I was frantic, begging to know why "they" were there. My parents asked me who and I responded with a very adamant, "Mary's father and brother! Why are they there? They didn't do anything! They are just Jewish and they are nice! Why?! They are just Jewish. They are not bad!"
My parents had no idea what I was talking about. Mary who? My mom recalls I was so mad, so frustrated and I just screamed, "Mary Gells! You know her! You do! She is my friend! Is she okay? You know her!"
I was completely panicked, and my mom says I cried until I exhausted myself completely and closed my eyes, but I fought sleep as long as I could, begging to know where Mary was.
After I passed out, she told my father about our conversation in the car six months before. My father was completely stunned and asked me about it the next day, but I refused to discuss it. I just would say, "She's gone now. I don't want to talk about it anymore."
The only explanation that I can come up with for these incidents is that this is some sort of past life memory of mine. I should also mention another interesting coincidence: my father is a German immigrant who moved to the U.S. when he was about 14. His father was (unwillingly) a Nazi soldier. He didn't look back favorably at that time in his life. In fact, he refused to talk about it. All he would ever say at the most was, "That was an evil time and we did many wrong things." Not that his WWII involvement is anything definitive, but its still rather odd, considering.
What can we make of HRM's story? Her actions and statements were extraordinary for a child of three. Was it merely the workings of the imagination? Or did something beyond our understanding take place? Perhaps, as HRM suspects, she is spontaneously recalling a friend from a past life. Or perhaps the memory is that of the spirits of the Holocaust victims themselves, whispering to HRM across time and space a reminder of Mary's family and their tragic fate.
