THE THEME OF INHUMANITY TOWARDS OTHER HUMANS

By Patrycja Puka & Grace Lombard

“They struck her several times on the head---blows that might have killed her. Her little boy clung to her; he did not cry out; he did not say a word”

“He leapt on me, like a wild animal, hitting me in the chest, on the head, throwing me down and pulling me up again, his blows growing more and more violent, until I was covered with blood. As I was biting my lips to stop myself from screaming with pain, he must have taken my silence for defiance, as he wont on hitting me even harder”

“What is more, any anger I felt at that moment was directed, not against the Kapo, but against my father. I was angry with him, for not knowing how to avoid Idek’s outbreak. That is what concentration camp life had made of me”

“I nodded my head, once, ten times. I nodded ceaselessly, as if my head had decided to say yes without ever stopping.”

“His back to the gallows, his face turned toward his judge, who was the head of the camp, the boy was pale, but seemed more moved than afraid”

“Then the whole camp, block after block, had to march past the hanged man and stare into dimmed eyes, the lolling tongue of death. The Kapos and heads of each block forced everyone to look him full in the face ”

“To hang a young boy in front of thousands of spectators was no light matter. They had of the camp read the verdict. All eyes were on the child. He was lividly pale, almost calm, biting his lips. The gallows threw its shadow over him”

“Moshe had changed. There was no longer any joy in his eyes. He no longer sang.”

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.”

“One day I was able to get up, after gathering all my strength. I wanted to see myself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.”