Touch the Sky (Young Underground #8) (30 page)

Epilogue
: The Long Way Home

             
Just like today, the eyes of the world were on the Middle East in the years following World War II. Everyone was worried about what would happen there. After almost two thousand years, this was finally the time when the Jewish people began returning to their own land. In 1948, Israel became a country once again, with Jerusalem as its capital. It would be a homeland for the Jewish people, who had suffered so much.

             
But Israel wasn
’
t born without a struggle. Great Britain, who was in charge of much of the territory that would become Israel, had a hard time acting as referee between the Arabs and Jews. Before withdrawing, the English really only succeeded in making everyone angry at them.

             
At the same time, the Jewish people wasted no time in finding a way home. Even before they were officially given permission, Jews from all over Europe headed for what was then called Palestine. Matthias
’
s comment that
“
The world is divided into two areas, countries where Jews cannot live, and countries where Jews cannot enter
”
was a real one, spoken by an important leader of the day. There really were ships filled with Jewish refugees, too, some of which never reached their destination. Jews came from all over Europe, from places where they had been persecuted for years. They were looking for the Promised Land.

             
Many found it, though it has never been a peaceful place. Others, like Henrik, did find real peace. Not by coming to a land, but by returning to the God of their fathers through Yeshua
—
Jesus. Even today, more and more Jewish people are finding peace in the Messiah of Israel. The Messiah of the world.

What
’
s next?

             
After reading
“
The Young Underground,
”
many readers want to know: What happens next? You
’
ll find many more exciting adventures in Robert Elmer
’
s
“
Promise of Zion
”
series, which takes up where this story leaves off.

             
And for grown-up readers, Robert has written a full-length novel called
Wildflowers of Terezin,
a
lso set in World War 2 Denmark.