Nightmares

Memoirs of the Years of Horror Under Nazi Rule in Europe, 1939 - 1945

By Konrad Charmatz

"The last safety plank had collapsed. There was nowhere else to hide, no one left to offer protection. No Jew was needed now. Hitler had kept his word: his fiendish project to destroy all the Jews was being carried out according to plan." pg. 49

"A command was heard, and the Nazi murderers began heaving the children out of the first of the wagons as if there were bags of coal or sacks of garbage....The ground actually shook from the screams of the children. The kapo stretched out on the ground and told us to do the same, but still we could see and hear what was happening at the crematoria, and it froze our blood. Two more transport wagons arrived full of children, and the same happened to them. Their terrified screams will never be forgotten by all those who witnessed this. We also heard the beastly laughter of the tower guards, who watched calmly as this spectacle took place.

Suddenly I heard a choked mournful outcry from the kommando. I looked around and saw the rebbe and his son had risen to their feet. Now they stretched their arms to heaven, and the rebbe called out with all his strength, "Lord of the Universe, where are you? How can you witness this and remain silent? No, no fellow Jews-there is no God!" pg. 103

"Here in this place of Jewish martyrdom, a few slaves were able to perform one year later a new act of Jewish holiness, continuing the tradition of generations." pg 142

"the kapos and the guards beat us pitilessly, and the number of dead grew steadily. We wanted either water or to be put to death." pg 169

"I wandered the city like a ghost, unable to stop crying. I looked into many Jewish homes and stores where at one time it had been so easy to encounter friends and acquaintances, handsome faces and friendly looks. I encountered none of the former owners. As I looked into the courtyards, scenes of Jewish children at play flashed before my eyes, th Shloimelech, and Peselech, the Hershelech, and Devorelech. All of them disappeared. I reminded myself of the long caravans and transports, the executions, the gas chambers and crematoria where I watched them being led to their deaths. The Nazis and their partners had thought of thousands of ways of death for their victims." pg 268


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