Holocaust Memorial Day

[Onelife]

I’ve been watching quite a lot of the memorial service today and found it both harrowing and moving having listened to some of the survivors’ stories. The one thing that was consistent in all of their recollections were the Cattle Carragies which were used to transport many of the six million, men, women and children to their deaths…I think this survivor’s account brings to the fore the desperation that they endured with most never being able to tell their story.

Sorry David, if this takes up a lot of space but today of all days I think we should make room for this first hand account.


Eva Kor

Holocaust survivor and forgiveness advocateUpvoted by

Originally Answered: What was it like to be a Jewish prisoner traveling in 'Cattle Cars' to Nazi Concentration Camps?

I must correct the question. "Traveling" is not exactly the word I would use. We were crammed in a cattle car and there was barely any air to breathe. There were about 100 people with no room to sit, no food, no water, and the only air was supplied by four little windows at the top of the cattle car. So, the air was not that fresh either. It was the end of May, during a stretch that was very hot. During the day, that wood and metal cattle car box was heating up. Thinking back, I have no idea how we survived the trip itself in that cattle car. The conditions themselves were already deadly. In other cattle cars several people died. I think in our cattle car there was one person who died but I am not 100 percent sure. There was one bucket in the corner. It had some sheets around it and I assume this is what was used for the toilet. But because we had very little to eat and drink in those four days, I did not need to use the facilities. So that is not what I would call "traveling." That is to me tortured need to explain our journey in that cattle car, because it is from my perspective unique. I have not heard a lot of people describe their own journey. We did not know where we were being taken. We were concerned and worried that we were not being taken to a labour camp in Hungary as the Hungarians told us when they put us in the cattle car at the ghetto. The train moved very fast. It seemed to me as a child that we were somehow "top priority." It would stop only for one reason, which seemed to me like refuelling. I don't know what they were refuelling on. Maybe it was steam, I don't know. Whenever they stopped, there was some kind of mechanical thing going on. There was no reason for them to stop for us, it was something they needed to keep the train going. That was my understanding - I could be wrong.
Anytime the train would stop, we would ask a question of the guard by our cattle car. Every single cattle car wagon had a booth by it, and in the booth was a guard with a machine gun. So, we would ask the guard by our cattle car for water. We were very, very thirsty. The guard would always say, "Five gold watches." The grown-ups gathered the gold watches and passed them through the barbed wire windows. The guard would take a bucket of water and throw it from the ground through the window. I put my cup over my head hoping to catch some water. The truth is I never got more than a few drops. I don't believe anyone else did either. As that was happening, I wondered to myself, Why are we asking for water and giving them gold watches, when the end result is we are not getting any water? I never would have dared ask my parents why are we doing that. Now I understand that people who are scared to death do not verbalize their thoughts. They usually turn inward. Today I understand why we were doing it. It was our only way of getting some information of where we were being taken.
It was the end of the third day. The train stopped. We asked for water, and the answer came back in German. I was ten years old, but I instantly knew what had happened. We had crossed the border into occupied Germany (present-day Poland), therefore our Hungarian guards had changed to German. For me, that meant that the end was near and we were all going to be murdered. During the four years of occupation by the Hungarian army in my village, there were rumours that Jews were being taken to Germany to be murdered. We didn't know where, we didn't know how. But we had one hope that we were hanging onto: that we would never be taken to Germany. And that hope, as we crossed into occupied Germany, just vanished. Everybody in our cattle car was praying and crying, and the train moved on. It was next morning - about eight hours later. The train stopped again and we again asked for water. This time, there was no answer in any language. In my mind, I determined that this must be the final stop, and I was right.
We heard a lot of Germans yelling orders outside, then the cattle car doors slid open. Thousands of people from our cattle car and others poured out onto a little strip of land called the selection platform. That little strip of land that measures 85 feet long by 35 feet wide - I don't believe there is another strip of land like that anywhere on the face of this earth that has witnessed so many millions of people being ripped apart from their families forever.
As we stepped down onto the selection platform, my mother grabbed me and my twin sister Miriam by the hand. We were her youngest children. I believe she thought that as long as she could hold onto us, she could protect us. Everything was moving very fast. After about ten minutes, in my childish curiosity I looked around trying to figure out what is this place?, when I realized my two older sisters, Edit and Aliz, and my father had disappeared into the crowd. Never, ever did I see them again.
As we were holding onto mother, a Nazi was running and yelling in German, "Twins! Twins!" We did not volunteer any information. We had no idea what that place was and what worked there. He noticed Miriam and me because we were dressed alike and looked alike. He demanded to know if we were twins. My mother didn't know what to say because she didn't know if it was good. She asked, "Is that good?" The Nazi nodded yes. My mother said yes. At that moment, another Nazi came and pulled my mother in one direction. We were pulled in the opposite direction. We were crying. She was crying. All I remember is seeing her arms stretched out in despair as she was pulled away. I never even got to say goodbye to her. But I didn't really understand that this would be the last time I would see her. All that took thirty minutes from the time we stepped down from the cattle car. Miriam and I no longer had a family. We were all alone, and we had no idea what would become of us. And all that was done to us for one simple reason: because we were born Jewish, and I did not understand why that was wrong.

[david63]

There were two things that struck me on the news tonight.

One was the pleas from the survivors that this is remembered for ever and that nothing like this should ever happen again. And then the next item on the news was the thousands of Palestinians returning "home" in a devastated Gaza - it just seemed as if history was repeating itself but in a different way.

The second was the expression on King Charles's during the day but particularly after he had laid a wreath

[Jan Rosser]

I visited Auschwitz a few years ago during a trip to Krakow - I really didn’t want to go there but felt it was something I should do and although I did not “enjoy” it I am glad I did it. Some of the things I saw were horrifying and there was an eeriness about the place - everyone was subdued and in the gas chambers there was complete silence - I remember just wanting to get out of the building. The exhibits - piles of shoes/clothes and hair - horrifying sights!

I watched some of the coverage today and listened to the stories and just cried at what the survivors endured but equally I found the sight of the Palestinians returning to Gaza to their homes which are unlikely to be still standing very emotional. How people endure and cope with these atrocities is beyond belief and makes me realise what a privileged life I have.

[Onelife]

Thanks for posting that Jan, the atrocities of antisemitism sadly still remain, as do the repercussions of it. I fear more for the future than I have ever done because the weapon that lies ahead of us is one where we have little control and will ultimately turn people against people and countries against each other… Welcome to AI

[oldbluefox]

I cannot believe how any human being can sadistically inflict such pain and suffering on another whose only 'crime' is their religious belief.
However I have been watching Lucy Worsley's programmes on the treatment of witches, Thomas Becket or the dissolution of the monasteries and feel sickened by the horrendous deaths these people suffered all those years ago.

[Portsmouth]

Things don't seem to change.....
How about the The Uyghur detainment and torture in Chinese concentration camps that is happening right now
From internment camps to mass sterilization, up to six million Uyghurs are unaccounted......How many have been kiiled ?

And what do we do....buy cheap goods from China
David Lammy is meeting with Chinas top diplomat in London next month but I doubt the Uyghur will be mentioned in their talks.

I haven't been able to find the true figures of how may Uyghurs and other minorities have been killed but It seems to be happening still
Yet nobody does anything...We just look the other way because Trade with China is so much more important

Sorry Onelife....I've diverted the subject away from Holocaust day which is every bit as important and should never be forgotten.

[Ray B]

The Remembrance of the Holocaust inside the huge marquee was sombre and a very moving occasion, and all in front of the entrance to Auschwitz - Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, with the stark reminder of how the Jews were transported there with a cattle truck set in the entrance.

[Onelife]

Things don't seem to change.....
How about the The Uyghur detainment and torture in Chinese concentration camps that is happening right now
From internment camps to mass sterilization, up to six million Uyghurs are unaccounted......How many have been kiiled ?

And what do we do....buy cheap goods from China
David Lammy is meeting with Chinas top diplomat in London next month but I doubt the Uyghur will be mentioned in their talks.

I haven't been able to find the true figures of how may Uyghurs and other minorities have been killed but It seems to be happening still
Yet nobody does anything...We just look the other way because Trade with China is so much more important

Sorry Onelife....I've diverted the subject away from Holocaust day which is every bit as important and should never be forgotten.

Hi Portsmouth, trying to work out how and why we witness these extreme persecutions of minority groups and indeed whole countries is no easy question to answer. I rather suspect it revolves around the philosophy of a country which sees everything else as a threat to its authority and way of life, and because of this, will resort to extreme measures to ensure the status que remains. You would like to think in this day and age we would have learnt the lessons of the past but as you say this never appears to be the case. What is most concerning is how easily it appears that what is being done can be done with impunity… and so it continues.