Broken Silence 1. Eyes of the Holocaust (9 of 16)

Broken Silence

The moment we arrived I perceived a smell...
that never went away.
I had never smelled it before...
or only at pig slaughter.
I told my mother and grandmother...
that this was the smell of burning meat.
"That's impossible!"
they said.
It was like an overturned ants' nest.
Everyone was scrambling, not knowing where to go.
They started to shout.
They separated the men from the women.

That's when I saw my father for the last time.
My mother held my sister's hand...
and my hand on the other side.
Then we reached Dr.Mengele.
"Can you work?" he asked.
I said, "Yes."
They didn't want my sister.
She was short, with her two ponytails.
She went with my mother.
They held hands and waved.
"I'll see you later," I shouted.
I never saw them again.
Children under 12 went straight to the gas chambers with their mothers.
Among the children, only twins remained.
There was this girl there.
They separated her mother to the left-hand side.
The poor woman started screaming: "My daughter! My daughter! My daughter! "I won't leave my daughter here!" And Mengele...
Mengele, laughing, told her: "Take your daughter with you, too."
When we arrived, he sent my mother to the left-hand side.
I didn't want to leave my mother's side.
I wanted to run after her.
A German soldier threatened me with a rubber truncheon.