Memory For Life
In 1939, the morning was beautiful in Warsaw. “Jadyn, it’s time for breakfast,” Mother said exhaustedly. We were having the usual Monday morning breakfast; eggs, pancakes, bacon, orange juice, and oatmeal.
“So,” Father said, “What are your plans today? I am going to do inventory in the store today, who would like to help me?”
“Abe?” Mother asked Father.
“Yes dear,” Father replied affectionately.
“Would you be able to take me to Mrs. Franks house? We’re doing the Quilting Club there today,” she interrogated pleadingly.
“Yes, I would,” answered Father politely.
Immediately Lizbeth stated to our parents, “ Jadyn and I are going to Tzipora’s after school to play dolls and have tea with her. Every Monday we have the usual tea party.” Lizbeth was my twin sister.
“What about you Betsy? What are you going to do today?” questioned Mother.
Betsy lazily retorted, “ Annie and I have to work on our Science project. So, I will be at her house today.”
“ I’m not burdened with anything today, Father, I could help you,” Aaron verbalized courteously.
“ Me too,” uttered Seth, Hans, Margot, Eli, and Emmanuel.
I had eight siblings; Aaron, 16, Betsy, 15, Seth, 14, Lizbeth, 12, Hans, 9, Margot, 7, Eli, 5, and Emmanuel, 3. There were some nights that we played hide-and-seek and tag in our house. Sometime we would do some plays that we made up for our parents. After the plays we would get treats.
Lizbeth and I went to pick up our friends and went off to school. We were planning what we were going to do at Tzipora’s house: first, homework, second, tea, and third, anything we would think of. It was time to go to class. Our homeroom teacher was Mrs. Frank. She was the nicest teacher that anyone could have.
Right after school Lizbeth, our friends, and I went to Tzipora’s. We did our homework and had tea. After we put our dishes in the sink we went to Tzipora’s room to play with her dolls. Lizbeth and I had to go home; our mother had called. Lizbeth and I helped put the dolls away.
I remember in May of 1940, there was a knock on the door. Our neighbors had told us that we needed to get ready for a journey. We brought our bags to Eliezer Shaan’s yard. He was one of our neighbors. There were a lot of Jewish people there with their luggage. There was a rumor that we were going to be picked up and brought to a camp. Eliezer said that the rumor was true.
In a few hours there were a lot of trucks parking in our neighborhood. There was a choice you had to make; you either went to the camp or be shot and cremated. I was scared. I wanted to cry but the tears wouldn’t come out. Everyone picked to go to camp. We boarded the trucks. There were eighty people in each truck. There was no room for all the people to sit down so we took turns. It was so hot in the truck. The truck began to stink. My family and I were by a window. We were glad we were by a window. I felt the soothing air on my face. I heard a child cry. There was a little boy that asked his mother for water, but there was no water. We were thirsty and hungry. My stomach hurt from hunger.
The doors slid open. We were ordered to get out. There was silence. Then we had to form a line in rows of five. There were one hundred people in a row. Our parents told us to stick together.
The Kapo announced, “You are in a concentration camp! The Gross Rosen concentration camp! Do you know why you came? Do you see the chimney over there? Do you see the flames?” (Of course we see the flames.) “ That’s where they will take you, that’s where your grave will be. You will be burned to cinder! You will be in ashes! We will give no mercy to all!”
I heard people whisper behind me:
“ We had fallen into a trap, what should we do now? We must do something. We can’t let them do this to us. We can’t let them slaughter us like cattle in the slaughterhouse.”
“ Mother, what is going to happen to us?” Seth asked.
“ I don’t know, my dear. It looks like this will be where we will be staying.”
My twin sister, Lizbeth, and my older sister, Margot were holding my hands. My family and I were all holding each other’s hands. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. The Kapos told us to follow them. Then they ordered us to run. We ran until we were ordered to stop.
Margot, Eli, and Emmanuel had died. They were too weak to do anything. We just woke up and found them dead in bed. Mother and Father had to carry them to the cremation building. We said Kaddish for them. Then Hans had died. While he was working, one of the Kapos got mad and randomly picked someone to beat. He picked up my brother and started throwing him around. I told the Kapo to stop. He came to me and told me that I either shut up or get burned to death. I had gotten quiet and started working. My brother was beaten so badly he died. He lost too much blood. I had to watch my brother burn in the cremation building. I was crying but the tears didn’t come out.
There are kind soldiers that bring us more soup if we’re too skinny. We thanked them. When I get a second bowl of soup I’d give the other half either to Lizbeth or Seth. If they had a second bowl I would give my other portion to my parents.
There was selection today. All of us were terrified. We were told to run to show them we were still strong enough to live. I heard people praying all around me. I prayed and asked God for strength. When the Kapos came in we became quiet.
An hour passed. The selection was finished. We didn’t know who was written down on the paper. We would find out who was written down to tomorrow morning. We were scared because we didn’t know if they wrote our names down. While I was working the thought of the selection came to me. I got worried, but I told myself that tomorrow they would announce who will stay behind.
The next morning we were told to line up. The Kapos came in and announced numbers. I wasn’t picked. My family wasn’t picked. There was one number I new. The number was my friend’s number, 29476. Her name was Mary. She was about 40 years old. She was a kind and caring lady. She worked by me and kept me company. All of us were assigned a place to work and a place to sit.
In 1942 the SS soldiers were driven out of the camp. We were free at last. When I was out of the gates I asked one of the soldiers that had driven out the SS soldiers if he had food to spare and he said yes. He gave me food. I ate all of it. Then a few minutes my stomach started hurting. The food was too rich for me. I had to eat food that was not too rich for a while.
There are days that I weep for my loved ones that I lost. The only people in my family that survived were my dad, mother, twin sister, Seth, Aaron, and Betsy. We would pray for our loved ones that we had lost in the camp. We had wished that they had a proper burial. All of us also prayed for all the Jews that were lost in all the camps. Almost every day we would have dreams we were in the camps. We were used to the nightmares because we knew how it felt to be beaten, hungry, tired and weak. This is the memory I would not forget through out my life, but I am glad that this would not happen again. My family and I are safe now. We will no longer feel the pain of being beaten, hungry, cold, and weak. I guess this was a test that God put the Jews though.
“So,” Father said, “What are your plans today? I am going to do inventory in the store today, who would like to help me?”
“Abe?” Mother asked Father.
“Yes dear,” Father replied affectionately.
“Would you be able to take me to Mrs. Franks house? We’re doing the Quilting Club there today,” she interrogated pleadingly.
“Yes, I would,” answered Father politely.
Immediately Lizbeth stated to our parents, “ Jadyn and I are going to Tzipora’s after school to play dolls and have tea with her. Every Monday we have the usual tea party.” Lizbeth was my twin sister.
“What about you Betsy? What are you going to do today?” questioned Mother.
Betsy lazily retorted, “ Annie and I have to work on our Science project. So, I will be at her house today.”
“ I’m not burdened with anything today, Father, I could help you,” Aaron verbalized courteously.
“ Me too,” uttered Seth, Hans, Margot, Eli, and Emmanuel.
I had eight siblings; Aaron, 16, Betsy, 15, Seth, 14, Lizbeth, 12, Hans, 9, Margot, 7, Eli, 5, and Emmanuel, 3. There were some nights that we played hide-and-seek and tag in our house. Sometime we would do some plays that we made up for our parents. After the plays we would get treats.
Lizbeth and I went to pick up our friends and went off to school. We were planning what we were going to do at Tzipora’s house: first, homework, second, tea, and third, anything we would think of. It was time to go to class. Our homeroom teacher was Mrs. Frank. She was the nicest teacher that anyone could have.
Right after school Lizbeth, our friends, and I went to Tzipora’s. We did our homework and had tea. After we put our dishes in the sink we went to Tzipora’s room to play with her dolls. Lizbeth and I had to go home; our mother had called. Lizbeth and I helped put the dolls away.
I remember in May of 1940, there was a knock on the door. Our neighbors had told us that we needed to get ready for a journey. We brought our bags to Eliezer Shaan’s yard. He was one of our neighbors. There were a lot of Jewish people there with their luggage. There was a rumor that we were going to be picked up and brought to a camp. Eliezer said that the rumor was true.
In a few hours there were a lot of trucks parking in our neighborhood. There was a choice you had to make; you either went to the camp or be shot and cremated. I was scared. I wanted to cry but the tears wouldn’t come out. Everyone picked to go to camp. We boarded the trucks. There were eighty people in each truck. There was no room for all the people to sit down so we took turns. It was so hot in the truck. The truck began to stink. My family and I were by a window. We were glad we were by a window. I felt the soothing air on my face. I heard a child cry. There was a little boy that asked his mother for water, but there was no water. We were thirsty and hungry. My stomach hurt from hunger.
The doors slid open. We were ordered to get out. There was silence. Then we had to form a line in rows of five. There were one hundred people in a row. Our parents told us to stick together.
The Kapo announced, “You are in a concentration camp! The Gross Rosen concentration camp! Do you know why you came? Do you see the chimney over there? Do you see the flames?” (Of course we see the flames.) “ That’s where they will take you, that’s where your grave will be. You will be burned to cinder! You will be in ashes! We will give no mercy to all!”
I heard people whisper behind me:
“ We had fallen into a trap, what should we do now? We must do something. We can’t let them do this to us. We can’t let them slaughter us like cattle in the slaughterhouse.”
“ Mother, what is going to happen to us?” Seth asked.
“ I don’t know, my dear. It looks like this will be where we will be staying.”
My twin sister, Lizbeth, and my older sister, Margot were holding my hands. My family and I were all holding each other’s hands. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. The Kapos told us to follow them. Then they ordered us to run. We ran until we were ordered to stop.
Margot, Eli, and Emmanuel had died. They were too weak to do anything. We just woke up and found them dead in bed. Mother and Father had to carry them to the cremation building. We said Kaddish for them. Then Hans had died. While he was working, one of the Kapos got mad and randomly picked someone to beat. He picked up my brother and started throwing him around. I told the Kapo to stop. He came to me and told me that I either shut up or get burned to death. I had gotten quiet and started working. My brother was beaten so badly he died. He lost too much blood. I had to watch my brother burn in the cremation building. I was crying but the tears didn’t come out.
There are kind soldiers that bring us more soup if we’re too skinny. We thanked them. When I get a second bowl of soup I’d give the other half either to Lizbeth or Seth. If they had a second bowl I would give my other portion to my parents.
There was selection today. All of us were terrified. We were told to run to show them we were still strong enough to live. I heard people praying all around me. I prayed and asked God for strength. When the Kapos came in we became quiet.
An hour passed. The selection was finished. We didn’t know who was written down on the paper. We would find out who was written down to tomorrow morning. We were scared because we didn’t know if they wrote our names down. While I was working the thought of the selection came to me. I got worried, but I told myself that tomorrow they would announce who will stay behind.
The next morning we were told to line up. The Kapos came in and announced numbers. I wasn’t picked. My family wasn’t picked. There was one number I new. The number was my friend’s number, 29476. Her name was Mary. She was about 40 years old. She was a kind and caring lady. She worked by me and kept me company. All of us were assigned a place to work and a place to sit.
In 1942 the SS soldiers were driven out of the camp. We were free at last. When I was out of the gates I asked one of the soldiers that had driven out the SS soldiers if he had food to spare and he said yes. He gave me food. I ate all of it. Then a few minutes my stomach started hurting. The food was too rich for me. I had to eat food that was not too rich for a while.
There are days that I weep for my loved ones that I lost. The only people in my family that survived were my dad, mother, twin sister, Seth, Aaron, and Betsy. We would pray for our loved ones that we had lost in the camp. We had wished that they had a proper burial. All of us also prayed for all the Jews that were lost in all the camps. Almost every day we would have dreams we were in the camps. We were used to the nightmares because we knew how it felt to be beaten, hungry, tired and weak. This is the memory I would not forget through out my life, but I am glad that this would not happen again. My family and I are safe now. We will no longer feel the pain of being beaten, hungry, cold, and weak. I guess this was a test that God put the Jews though.
No comments:
Post a Comment