Years of Terror
Written April 2002


     Devorah was playing in the park. Suddenly, she was surrounded by Nazis. They were closing in on her, chanting, “Down with the Jews!”
     She woke with a start. She was in her own room, her eight-year-old sister in the bed beside hers. The park, the Nazis were gone. But the chanting was not. Devorah could still hear the sound of men crying, “Down with the Jews!” She heard faint screams, many of them. That confused her, why would people be screaming?
     Something else was not right. The clock chimed once, it was one ‘o clock in the morning. There was a light coming from outside, though. A bright, flickering light. Devorah smelled smoke; it hung thick in the November air.
     Devorah stumbled to the window; her foot was asleep. As she looked out, she gasped. The synagogue to which her family belonged, Temple Kol Ami, was on fire. Flames licked the walls; the windows were broken. Devorah was shocked. How could their precious synagogue be burning? The place where the Singers went to pray every Friday night and Saturday morning…
     When Devorah regained her senses, she realized that this was something her parents should see. They can explain this to me, she thought.
     She tiptoed to her parents’ bedroom across the hall, careful not to awaken Hannah. She stood in the doorway for a moment. Both Rebecca and Isaac Singer were sound asleep. Devorah hated to wake them, but she needed them to see the temple. She walked over to her mother, and shook her shoulder a little bit to wake her.
   “Huh? Devorah? What’s wrong, honey? You look a bit pale…” Rebecca said to her daughter, still looking half asleep.
   “There is something both you and Father should see, outside my bedroom window.”
   “At this hour? Devorah, you are thirteen years old, you should not be acting like this at that age.”
   “Mother! Just come look!”
   “Fine, just give me a moment.”
      Devorah began to wake her father, but her mother gave her one of those looks that mothers are so good at, so she went back to her room to wait for her mother.
When Rebecca reached Devorah and Hannah’s bedroom, she found Devorah sitting on her bed. “Hurry, look outside!” she whispered, being careful not to wake her sister.
     Rebecca went to the window and looked out. When she saw the sight of the burning synagogue, her face turned as red as the flames as she screamed, “What in the world are those dumb Nazis doing destroying a religious site???”
     The scream awoke Hannah, who sat up, rubbing her eyes. “What’s going on?” she asked, as she got out of bed. She walked over to stand at the window next to Devorah. On the way she passed her mother, running out of the room to get the girls’ father. Soon she returned, Isaac following her, slipping his robe over his pajamas. When he saw the temple burning, he just stared at it, speechless, his face pale as a ghost.
   “Are you ok, Dad?” Hannah asked. He didn’t answer.
   “I think you should go back to bed, Hannah,” her mother said. “Go to the room where Granddad used to sleep, you may sleep there.” This was a surprise to Devorah; no one had spent a night in there since her grandfather had been taken from the street and sent to a concentration camp a few months before. Although quite old, he had fought in World War I and was still sharp as a pin, so Devorah could not see how he was taken, but he had been.
     Hannah went to her grandfather’s old bedroom, but Devorah had not been sent anywhere so she remained by her parents, silently looking out the window. The three of them stood there, staring, wondering how the Nazis could do such a horrible deed, until Rebecca’s temper exploded.
   “Those rotten Nazis! If they don’t care about the importance of a temple, they should at least care that they are destroying public property! I suppose they’ll blame it on us Jews, as they always do! One temple could not possibly cause such a sight, there must be other buildings to which they set fire! Jewish-owned buildings, no doubt! Why I -”
   “Calm down there, dear,” Isaac cut in, “we will not know anything until morning. There will surely be an article about it in the paper. We need to get our sleep, so that we will be able to get up for work tomorrow.” He looked at Devorah. “And school. You said you had a math test tomorrow? You must be well rested in order to do well on it. Off to bed, now.” Isaac and Rebecca went back to their own bedroom, as Devorah got back under her covers. What a horrible thing those stupid Nazis have done, she thought as she drifted off.

     Isaac Singer was right, there was an article in the Thursday, November 10, 1938 edition of the Berlin Post about the fires. The night was called Kristallnacht, or The Night of Broken Glass. Jewish-owned homes and businesses, along with synagogues, were burned all over Germany. People caught trying to escape were either shot or sent to concentration camps. Across Germany 7,500 businesses were destroyed, and over 1,000 temples were burned. 96 Jews were killed, hundreds were injured, and about 30,000 were sent to concentration camps. The cause was a seventeen-year-old Jewish boy shooting a member of the German Embassy staff in Paris.
   “Horrible, just horrible.” Isaac muttered under his breath.


     Three years later, the situation had much worsened. There were all sorts of anti-Jewish rules. Devorah’s non-Jewish friends had long since abandoned her. Her bicycle had been taken away from her, and since Jews were not allowed to ride the trams, Devorah and Hannah had to walk several miles to school each day.
Devorah, aged sixteen, was worried about her mother. She was weak, and endlessly coughing. She barely had the energy to clean the house each day. Devorah was helping out with the housework more and more as the days wore on.
     One chilly September night, Devorah awoke in the middle of the night, as she had often done since Kristallnacht. This time, however, she awoke to a loud knocking at the door. Knock knock knock! Whoever it is must be desperate to get to us, she thought. Knowing how deeply her father slept, and figuring that her mother would not get out of bed, Devorah walked sleepily to the door.
     The sight she saw when she opened the door was not nearly as bad as Temple Kol Ami burning, but it was another sight she would never forget. Three tall Nazis policemen, in uniform, frowning down on her.
  “Go get your parents,” the one in the middle growled at her. Devorah was scared stiff, as she had heard rumors about things like this, but she did as he said. She walked quickly to her parents’ room, and shook her father until he was half awake.
   “Get up, Father!” she said softly. “There are Nazis at the door!
  “Nazis? At our door?” This got Isaac up! He hopped out of bed, grabbed his robe, and put it on as he rushed to the door.
    When the Nazis caught sight of him, the one on the right said, “Isaac Singer, I assume? You and your family are being moved to a better place for you Jews, in the east. You have ten minutes to pack, and get to the courtyard. Don’t try anything, for if you do we will catch you.” The Nazis left, leaving the Singers to pack.
   “Devorah, get yourself and Hannah packed. Wake her up. I’ll take care of your mother,” Isaac said.
     Devorah hurried to her room. She grabbed two satchels from the closet, and shook her sister. It didn’t take much to get her up. “Pack some things,” she said to her sister. “We are going on a trip.” Hannah didn’t argue or ask questions or anything, to Devorah’s surprise. She just started packing.
     Devorah threw some clothes into her satchel, and then placed her hand on her photo album. In it were pictures of everything, family and friends, events and just regular days. It’s to precious to leave, Devorah decided, as she put it into her bag. She moved to the kitchen, grabbing another bag. She didn’t know how much food the Nazis would allow them to have, so she packed some. Fruit and other foods that would not spill or go bad too quickly disappeared into the bag, along with a few thermoses of water.
     As Devorah was filling the last of four thermoses, Isaac came into the room, carrying bags for Rebecca and himself. “Your mother is getting ready,” he told Devorah. “Are you and Hannah all set?”
   “I am,” she told her father, “and Hannah is almost done, I believe.”
   “Good,” Isaac said. “Go get her, and I’ll get your mother. See you at the door.”
     Devorah put the thermos in the bag, and returned to her room, where she found Hannah sitting on her bed, big fat tears running silently down her cheeks. She was holding a photograph in one hand, the nearly full satchel in the other. Devorah sat down next to her, and saw that the picture was of Hannah and her friend Anne, who had disappeared a few weeks before. Devorah took the photograph gently out of Hannah’s hand and placed it in the bag. “We must go now,” she said. “Mother and Father are waiting for us by the door.” She got up, and extended her hand to help Hannah up. Hannah took it, and as she stood up, she gave her sister a weak smile.

     When the Singer family reached the courtyard, they found it was full of Jews from their block and others nearby. Devorah spotted her friend Leah and her family. There were about a dozen Nazis watching them. After a few minutes, everyone was ordered to walk to the train station, four miles away. Nazis were yelling, “Schnell, schnell! Hurry, hurry!” Devorah held Hannah’s hand as they walked so that they would not get lost, and Hannah hung onto Isaac who was helping Rebecca struggle down the street.
     When they arrived at the train station, Devorah was surprised to find not passenger trains, but cattle cars. Nazis shoved the Jews into them, sometimes separating families. Devorah hears wives calling for husbands, and children calling out for their parents. Devorah shivered. Is this the way the Nazis will treat us? Like animals? Devorah thought. The station was so noisy, that Devorah saw Hannah cover her ears. Devorah grabbed her elbow to keep them together, along with holding her father’s free hand.
     The Singer family all ended up in one car, to Devorah’s delight. She could not imagine anything worse than going to some strange place without her family. She did not know what horrors awaited her; all she knew was that it would not be pleasant.

     Three days of being on those crowded trains went by. There was no stopping, no food and water other than what the passengers had brought with them, and no place to ‘go’. One corner of the car was used for that purpose, and the train was so smelly by the end of the first day that Devorah had to hold her nose when she had to ‘go’. Many people died along the way, from starvation (especially among those who had been in ghetto) and lack of air. None of the Singers were among those dead, though.
     Finally, the train got to its destination. The doors were pulled open, and the Jews staggered out, the Nazis yelling, “Schnell!” once again. Devorah would later learn that it was a word often heard at the camp.
     Devorah saw fences all around the camp, barbed wire fences. Guard towers lined the fence, making it look impossible to escape. A large, iron sign stood at the entranceway, a sign that said, “Arbeit Macht Frei”; Work Makes You Free.
   Nazis were pushing the Jews into line. Hannah almost got separated from Devorah, but she hung on tight to her sister and ended up in line behind her, in front of Rebecca.
     After they marched under the gates, the men were put into another line and were marched away. Isaac tried as hard as he could to stay with his family, going as far as taking some money out of his pocket and trying to bribe the guard, but he was sent to the other line despite of his efforts. The sight of him slowly, sadly walking away towards the other men would be the last Devorah and Hannah would see of their father.
     After the men left, the line of women and children inched forward. When Devorah was close enough, she found the reason for it. A man in a white doctor’s coat was standing at the front of the line. As each person approached him, he pointed to the left or the right. As Devorah moved up in line, she noticed that the older women and younger children were sent to the left, and the others to the right. She was sent to the right when her time came, as was Hannah. Their mother, however, was sent to the left, never to be seen again.
     After everyone was sent one way or the other, Devorah’s line started moving again, this time coming to a stop in a large, not very well lit room. The Nazis left, and a woman in Nazi uniform came forward.
   “Get undressed,” she said. “You will all take showers now.”
   “What, here? In the open like this? In front of each other?” one woman said.
   “Of course,” the Nazi said.
     Devorah hesitated. She did not want to undress in front of all these strangers! She was embarrassed, but as she saw the others pulling off their clothes, she did the same.
     As they finished undressing, the doors open. The women near the door tried to hide themselves as a man came in. He herded them through the door, to the shower. The water was freezing cold, but everyone needed the shower.
     After the water was turned off, the women and children were brought back to the room where they had undressed. Their clothes were gone, and they stood there shivering until a door in the back opened. The woman Nazi stood there, and she had the Jews lined up. Their heads were shaved (“No hair, no lice,” the Nazi said) and they were given clothes that were practically rags to wear. Then came the tattoos. A prisoner tattooed a number on everyone’s arm, just below the armpit. Devorah was J127883. Hannah, right behind her, was J127884.
     Having been tattooed, the newcomers were assigned to a barracks. In the barracks there were no blankets or pillows on the beds, which were just wooden planks themselves. Devorah didn’t care right then, though, she was so exhausted. She just curled up on one and went to sleep, barely noticing Hannah climb on next to her.

     Devorah woke before the sun came up, hearing a man shouting. The new Jews were to come get food if they wanted it. Devorah realized how hungry she was, having not eaten at all the day before. She and Hannah went to get in line as quickly as they could, both of them being morning people. They received a bowl, which they were told never to lose, as they needed it for food and water; there would be no replacement. Some watery soup was put in the bowl, and a very hard piece of brown bread was handed to each of the Jews. Devorah ate her food so quickly that she barely tasted it.
     After they ate, the newcomers were assigned jobs. Devorah was to work in the kitchen, and, although Hannah would not be with her, she was relieved to learn that Hannah would be working in the sorting shed, along with Leah’s mother, Chayah, who promised to look after her.
     At work Devorah met Rachel, J18747, a Jew who had been in the camp for quite a while. They became fast friends. Devorah learned many things from Rachel. She was told about the Selections, times when officials walked through the camp and selected Jews who were not in top shape to be sent to either the gas chambers or to Block 10.
   “What is Block 10?” Devorah asked Hannah when she was told this.
   “Block 10 is the medical experimentation block here at Auschwitz. Jews form chosen in Selections and Jews from the hospital – stay away from the hospital if at all possible – are sent there. Block 10 is where Dr. Mengele, the man who chose that you would live when he pointed you to the right as you entered the camp, does his experiments. They can either prolong life or end it immediately. You don’t want to mess with Mengele, Devorah. He is crazy. He has some Jews killed for dissection, I heard. You must stay as healthy-looking as possible, those who are sent to Block 10 almost never come out.” She lowered her voice. “That lady there, she is staring at us, we must stop talking or she’ll report us and G-d only knows what will happen then. Meet me outside the kitchen after you eat.”

     The girls worked quietly until the evening meal, when they were allowed to quit. After finding Hannah, and thanking Chayah for looking after her, the sisters got a meal of more watery soup. When they finished, they went to the kitchen, where they found Rachel waiting outside for them. After introducing herself to Hannah, Rachel went on explaining about life in the camp and how to survive.
   “This is our free hour,” she told them,” the one hour in which we are not being completely watched by the Nazis. If a Nazi tells you to do one thing or another, you must do it, but that will most likely not happen. Any time a Nazi gives you a command, you must do it immediately. The slow ones are Chosen at Selections. Hannah, you are lucky. Children under the age of fourteen are not supposed to be at the camp, but you look old enough that you will not be Chosen. You must not do anything to displease the Nazis or you will be Chosen. I do not know what else to say, except if you have any questions, be sure to ask me. I am in the barracks to the right of yours.”
     With that, the girls parted ways. Devorah spotted Leah, whom she introduced to Rachel, who filled her in. Hannah went back to the barracks to go to sleep.
     When free hour ended, Devorah was sent to the barracks, where she crawled in next to her sleeping sister. She lay awake thinking, remembering all the good times in the past and wondering whether she could do all that was needed to survive. Finally she drifted off to sleep.

     So became the routine. Wake up, eat a breakfast of watery soup and sometimes a hard piece of bread, work, midday meal, work, evening meal, free hour, sleep. Devorah got used to it after awhile. A few days after the day she began working, she saw her first Selection. Nazi officials with clipboards marched around camp, and writing down numbers. Devorah worked her hardest when they came, and learned to pinch her cheeks to make them appear rosy and healthy.
     Winter came, harsh as ever, showing no mercy. Having no coat or sweater, Devorah was glad to be working in the warm kitchen. Hannah was not so lucky, however. Hard hours of work in the unheated sorting shed without so much as a sweater soon made her very ill. By a few weeks into winter, the girl was in the hospital. That day, there was a Selection. As soon as the list of those Chosen was read, Devorah ran down to the hospital to see her sister one last time. As she walked back to barracks afterwards, she could no longer hold back her tears. She burst out crying, and no one could comfort her, no matter how hard Leah, Chayah, and Rachel tried.

     Upon losing her sister, Devorah went through her work half-heartedly. She stopped caring. She became a musselman, in camp terms. She was alone, the last one in her family to be living, as far as she knew. She no longer tried to look strong and healthy during Selections, and soon developed a nasty fever. One cold, February day, a few days before her birthday, Devorah was Chosen. She was gassed the day she turned seventeen.
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