We Were The Lucky Ones – Episode 8 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

What happens to Halina in the prison? 

In episode 8 of We Were The Lucky Ones, we find Halina in prison. No matter how much she emphasises upon not being a Jew, all she receives are kicks and punches. With a bloody face, we see her spend 3 months in prison with occasional gunshots and a dwindling number of prisoners. When her death is a surety, she’s suddenly released on the grounds that her arrest had been invalid. She leaves the prison to find Herr Den waiting where she confesses that she almost told them her real identity.

February 1945, Former Lodz Ghetto in Poland. We find that Bella and Jakob are expecting their first child. Meanwhile, Felicia is still struggling, a consequence of her time spent at the convent. Adam and Halina visit the house where Halina’s parent’s are in hiding. They tearfully reunite. Back in Rio, Addy and Caroline listen on the radio as Germany surrendered. The war is over. People in Rio rejoice over the happy news while for people in Poland, it’s time to look for their living or dead. The Kurcs decide to look for each other. Nechuma decides she wants to go back to Radom. They hope to find Genec or Addy’s letters in their old home. However, when they arrive, they are met with hostile tenants who claim to have legally rented the house. They also refuse the Kurcs to retrieve their mail.

What happens to the Kurc’s house in Radom after the war? 

While on their way back, they find a poster asking Jews to leave the Radom County in a set number of days. They realise that there’s nothing left in Radom for them. Back at the Kurc residence, Adam finds that his family have all but died and Bella tries to comfort him. Meanwhile in Rio, Caroline’s warm heartedness towards Jewish families is evident. This is also when Addy casually mentions that they should get married and Caroline agrees.

How do the Kurcs find Genec, Herta and Selim? 

While waiting at the Red Cross, Halina receives a letter from Genec, informing her about his family along with Selim, are posted in Italy. The family rejoice over this happy news and they decide to travel to Italy. Mila and Felicia are nervous to see Selim after almost 7 years. Bella and Jakob who plan to leave for the States to be with Bella’s uncle. Halina, although heartbroken at this news, eventually acknowledges that it’s their choice to make. The Kurcs travel across the Alps and board a train to Italy.

The family meets Genec and his family in a tearful reunion. Mila and Felicia nervously meet Selim, who’s just as nervous but somehow, it all settles into place. Meanwhile, Bella and Jacob, with their son Victor board a train in October 1945 to leave Lods in Poland.

What happens to Addy?

In Rio, it’s been months and Addy has still not heard from his family. It’s revealed that Addy and Caroline are also expecting their first child. They decide to relocate to the States in Massachusetts. Over the next few days, Addy meets Eliska, who is married to her American husband. They are also planning to relocate to the States. This is when Addy receives a message about a telegram. He runs all the way to the embassy and begs them to give him the telegraph since the embassy has been closed for the day. There he finds a letter from Genec, informing that the entire family is safe.

Does the entire Kurc family reunite?

Four months later, in June 1946, Addy and Caroline’s daughter is born just when the Kurcs are to arrive in Brazil. Addy, unable to wait, rows a small boat towards the ship as the family scream and shout after seeing each other. Ten Months later, at the Passover in 1947, the entire family celebrates at Caroline and Addy’s house. They pray for those they lost and also, talks to Jakob and Bella, who are well placed in Chicago, over the telephone. The episode ends on a high note with real life pictures of the Kurc family.

The Episode Review

We Were The Lucky Ones wrapped beautifully with all the family members finding each other over the course of almost a year. The episode was a real tear jerker with poignant moments filled with hope and despair, all at the same time.

Not once, but many times the tears travel down one’s cheek, not for the news of liberation, they travel when after winning a pointless war, many Jewish people, like the Kurcs, get ready to face the damage and grief that they carry on their shoulders. Europe might have won a war but ordinary people lost much more before the war even began. And while the Kurcs were indeed, the lucky ones, there were many who weren’t. As Adam exclaims, “what was the point of it all”. And through the last scene of the Passover, the show pays homage to all the victims who were not quite as lucky as the Kurcs.