Post by Madame Red on Jun 1, 2011 21:07:39 GMT -8
It is so crowded in here. This boxcar is made for a few animals, not a hundred people. Beneath me are mangled bodies, crushed beneath the weight of many. They are the ones who had suffocated or been trampled to death on this god-forsaken journey.
Outside are flurries of snow. It is very cold, I can hardly stand it. My teeth chatter and I rub my arms in a vain attempt to warm myself. The stench from the bodies makes it even worse.
The car jerks, sending some of us tumbling as we screech to a halt. The door opens and the cold night air floods in. A woman in a black uniform stands outside and yells at us in German.
“Raus, jüdischen Abschaum!” Get out, Jewish scum. Is that what we are? Scum?
We come out into the night and stand in a cluster. We try to stay close together so we do not freeze. The woman calls our names. Perhaps to make sure none of us escaped. How could we? The train did not once stop in all those hours.
I hear my name called and I answer. My gaze then wanders up. There I see a large chimney reaching for the sky. Gray smoke emits from it. It smells of burned meat.
I look back to the woman soldier and study her. Her entire uniform, from cap to shoes, is black. The only color is a red swastika pinned just above her left breast.
She finishes, and two other women come over. They herd us into a brick building, the one the chimney is attached to. Inside there are boxes and we are told to remove our shoes, tie them together, and put them inside.
Next we come to a room where several people await. One by one, they cut off our hair and shave our heads. To get rid of lice, they say. I see some struggling not to cry as their hair is taken.
We are forced to strip. Our clothing is piled in a corner of the room. I try to cover myself, to no avail. As we are herded into a steel room, they hand us bars of soap.
“Atmen Sie tief durch. Es hilft bei der Reinigung.” Breathe deeply. It helps with the cleansing.
Once we are in, they lock and bolt the door behind us. There are sprinklers above us. I expect the water to start soon. I hope it starts soon.
The lights go out. I hear one woman scream in shear terror. I breathe deeply, trying to calm myself.
Many minutes pass. No water. I am worried. Are they to leave us here, to starve and die? My answer to what is happening soon comes. Near me, I hear a woman fall to the floor. Not many minutes later, others join her.
I remember the stories I heard one tell. Of the gas chambers. What was happening matched exactly. We had not been the lucky ones to get the water. We got the gas, and next our bodies would be fed to the flames.
I feel my eyelids droop. I fall...
Outside are flurries of snow. It is very cold, I can hardly stand it. My teeth chatter and I rub my arms in a vain attempt to warm myself. The stench from the bodies makes it even worse.
The car jerks, sending some of us tumbling as we screech to a halt. The door opens and the cold night air floods in. A woman in a black uniform stands outside and yells at us in German.
“Raus, jüdischen Abschaum!” Get out, Jewish scum. Is that what we are? Scum?
We come out into the night and stand in a cluster. We try to stay close together so we do not freeze. The woman calls our names. Perhaps to make sure none of us escaped. How could we? The train did not once stop in all those hours.
I hear my name called and I answer. My gaze then wanders up. There I see a large chimney reaching for the sky. Gray smoke emits from it. It smells of burned meat.
I look back to the woman soldier and study her. Her entire uniform, from cap to shoes, is black. The only color is a red swastika pinned just above her left breast.
She finishes, and two other women come over. They herd us into a brick building, the one the chimney is attached to. Inside there are boxes and we are told to remove our shoes, tie them together, and put them inside.
Next we come to a room where several people await. One by one, they cut off our hair and shave our heads. To get rid of lice, they say. I see some struggling not to cry as their hair is taken.
We are forced to strip. Our clothing is piled in a corner of the room. I try to cover myself, to no avail. As we are herded into a steel room, they hand us bars of soap.
“Atmen Sie tief durch. Es hilft bei der Reinigung.” Breathe deeply. It helps with the cleansing.
Once we are in, they lock and bolt the door behind us. There are sprinklers above us. I expect the water to start soon. I hope it starts soon.
The lights go out. I hear one woman scream in shear terror. I breathe deeply, trying to calm myself.
Many minutes pass. No water. I am worried. Are they to leave us here, to starve and die? My answer to what is happening soon comes. Near me, I hear a woman fall to the floor. Not many minutes later, others join her.
I remember the stories I heard one tell. Of the gas chambers. What was happening matched exactly. We had not been the lucky ones to get the water. We got the gas, and next our bodies would be fed to the flames.
I feel my eyelids droop. I fall...