The boxcars pull into Hanover on the fast day of 17 Tammuz.
We are ordered to get off and march. We are young and old,
babies in arms. It is a stifling hot July day. The sun beats
down on us without mercy. Everyone is loaded down with
blankets and bedding and valises and, in the hope of making
his bundles lighter to carry, has put on as many layers of
clothing as possible. It is four-and-a- half miles to our
destination.
We walk slowly, dragging our heavy loads. Many people are
fasting and old people are fainting. The younger and stronger
men in the group revive them, throw them over their shoulders
and carry them the rest of the way. The SS seem to have
already forgotten that we are a privileged group and are
cursing us and calling us names. [Ed. Negotiations have been
made with the Germans to buy these Jewish lives in exchange
for trucks and food...] We are blinded by the sun and can
hardly see ahead. Even after the sun sets, the road has no
end. Night is falling. We stumble in the dark. People are
moaning and groaning, children are crying, pleading that they
can't take another step.
I wish I could drop my bundles and hang on to Father's coat,
but I dare not. I whimper and complain. Mother's sharp voice
warns me to be quiet, but Father coaxes me on gently.
"Just a little bit more," he says, "and we'll soon be there.
Then you'll have a nice soft bed, and you'll rest in
comfort."
Father has never lied to me before, but with the SS shouting
for us to go faster, poking us in the ribs with their
bayonets and threatening to shoot anyone who falls down, I
don't know if I can believe him.
The great iron gates of Bergen-Belsen are opened for us to
enter, and when we're all inside, they're locked closed
again.
*
"You are now in a concentration camp!" the SS commander
officer bellows. "You are surrounded by high tension barbed
wire, soldiers trained to shoot and vicious dogs. It is
impossible for any of you to escape, so we strongly advise
you not to try. Your every move can be observed by the
soldiers on the watchtowers, as well as those on duty
inside..."
"Our dogs are specially trained to detect Jewish blood, and
we keep them on a starvation diet to make sure that they are
vicious."
