Today’s Freezing Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
On March 16, 1945, the Nazis liquidated the death camp at Spaichingen, located in southwestern Germany, about twenty miles north of the Swiss border. Joseph Freeman and thousands of other inmates began a six-week death march ordeal that ended in the city of Fussen in southern Germany. Joseph’s story is documented in the book The Road To Hell: Recollections of the Nazi Death March. This particular excerpt reminded me that even the “minor” ordeals that the survivors had to endure were awful.
Early on March 16, 1945, the doors to our barracks had been forced open and the SS rushed in shouting in German, “Raus, Raus!” (“Out, Out!”) Frightened, we jumped quickly from our bunks, hurriedly putting on our clothes. My friend, Chaim, was already out of bed, almost completely dressed. In seconds, we straightened out our beds and covered them with blankets. We ran outside and waited for our orders. What next? Afraid, we stood around in front of the barracks, surrounded by SS men. Some of them had dogs on leashes. It was frightening. The SS started to push us toward the middle of the camp, forcing us to run fast. The combination of the barking of the dogs and the voices of the SS hollering for us to move quickly made us feel that our end was near. This would be the last moment before they killed us… It took a while to get all of us in the center of the camp. The SS surrounded us and started to push, to squeeze us close together in one place.
We stood, afraid to move. I started to cry. At that moment I was reliving the liquidation of my ghetto in Radom, the selection of my loved ones to the Death Camp, as the SS with their dogs forced our people onto the cattle trains. The voices calling for help were ringing in my ears. I closed my eyes. A push from Chaim brought me back to the horrifying present. Chaim, trying to cheer me up, assured me this was not Radom. We stood and waited… The Kapos [inmates assigned by the SS to supervise their area], following orders, began to organize prisoners into groups of one hundred, with a Kapo at the head of each column. This was something new for us. This was not the ordinary routine. The SS started to move in from the sides, surrounding each group. It was quiet. Only the voices of the SS shouting “Macht schnell” (“hurry up!”) interrupted the silence.
We followed the orders without talking. It took an hour to completely form the columns. As we looked around, some of us raised our eyes to the sky, praying silently. We were standing, afraid to move, not knowing what was coming next. Seconds turned to minutes, the minutes turned to hours. So long was the wait – an eternity, waiting for the unknown. It was winter. A cold wind started to blow, then, after awhile, it started to snow. The snow covered our tattered clothes. Then the sun came out and snow started to melt. Under our feet the snow turned to water. When the sun went down the water turned to ice. Our wet clothes started to freeze and stick to our bodies. It was terrible. We had been standing in one place for so long. It was getting colder and colder. Those who could not take it any longer fell to the frozen ground, shaking from the cold. The Kapos started to hit them with their short sticks, trying to force them to stand up. Most of us had been standing, quietly, trying not to move. Only waiting and shivering. What else could we do?
Then a noise. From far away, we saw the camp commander with a group of SS coming out of the office building with a paper in hand… The orders required us to go back to our barracks and get our blankets. Also, we had to take our utensils with us, one spoon and one pot. We could take only one blanket with us. We were leaving the camp. This had to be done in a short time. We were given only twenty minutes to return from the barracks to be ready to move out. we ran as fast as possible, grabbing our blankets and utensils. We quickly returned to our groups. Breathing loudly, we stood in one place, waiting to move out. Chaim and I looked at each other. We both shook our heads and started to silently sob. I don’t know why we cried. We were not allowed to talk. We did not have any other way to express our relief. There was so much tension. This was the only way to react. At least we knew what was going on. A Kapo stood at the front of each group of one hundred. Chaim and I were in the first group of one hundred, ready to start our journey into the unknown.
Culled from: The Road To Hell: Recollections of the Nazi Death March
Morbid Trinket Du Jour!
Isn’t this the most adorable necklace ever? I wish it weren’t so expensive. And it occurs to me that if Jesus had been guillotined, Christians would be wearing this around their necks and it would probably be a lot cheaper. But then the crucifix would be expensive, so there’s just no winning that battle.
Available from Gorey Details