Reflection On Why Were You Persecuted

Entry 1: Why were you persecuted? I’ve decided to take record of the events going on around me and of the horrors being commited. I feel as though it’s my duty. First they went for the Socialists, and I did not say anything. I am not a Socialist. They went for Trade Unionists, and I did not say anything. I am not a Trade Unionist. They went for the Jews, and I did not say anything. I am not a Jew. Now there is only me left to come for, and it is only now that I realize that there is no one left to speak out. I have seen the horrors of others that will soon be my own: live human beings being thrown into furnaces, heads of toddlers being smashed in by the butt of soldiers’ guns, or being shoved into sacks and gassed to death. I’ve turned …show more content…
When it happened, I felt my body become cold, as if I had already lost hope. Our town felt like it had been turned into a concentration camp, although I suspected they were much worse. Bedzin had more than 4,000 Jews living among us. While I wasn’t Jewish, there were accusations. They began shipping families to camps immediately. Me and my family were among the next, and last, to be shipped to auschwitz. However, there was hope. The Jewish Combat Organization had staged an uprising. I’ve heard rumors of Jewish underground in Warsaw before. After seeing the pistols and hand grenades the men used, I believe those rumors hold truth. My family was being dragged out of our home for portation when the protest began. The Nazi soldiers kicked us aside and ran to help their comrades. My ribs began to ache and breathing became hard. As I looked around me during that time, all was silent. There was so much blood that the air became noisome. I saw pistols fire and automobiles turn over in blasts from grenades. Silence. It was almost as though I was no longer existing in …show more content…
There is an Aktion in the town that I’m crossing through. I don’t want to go to a camp. If only I could say that this hell is over; you only die once. But I can’t, because despite all the atrocities I’ve seen, I want to live for that man. Before, I felt no hope. I was only cold and numb to what is happening. Now, that man has awoken something inside of me: a deep desire to live. Thanks to him, I have been liberated in a way, and I wish to stay that way. However, despite all this hope, even an animal knows when it’s in the slaughterhouse. While my life may end, this journal will live on for me, forever telling people of the tragedy Germany has brought to this