The Virtual Historian

Reports from outside the ghetto talked of the terrible war raging in France and England, and of German forces moving deep into Poland and Russia. We heard that the Germans were losing millions of soldiers in the ice and snow near Moscow. Their victories had started turning into defeats.More Jews were brought to Terezin from Germany and Holland. Sanitation in the ghetto got worse and food rations were lowered. It was terribly hot in the summer and we froze in the winter. All this was bearable. What was unbearable was the threat of transport from Terezin, eastbound to unknown Poland. When these transports would occur, two to three thousand people at a time were given notice to prepare their belongings and move to an old warehouse. Only two days’ warning was given. Fear started to spread about who would be in the next transport. Each transport took two or three boys from our room. After each transport, it was very quiet in our room. Each of us wondered when his number would come up.On one gloomy day in November 1943, I was handed a little slip. No one knew who made the selections, but there it was — my notice. Soon afterward, my mother came in to help mepack. She was, or at least pretended to be, cheerful. Her favourite Czech song was, “As long as we have our song, we are alive andhappy.” The next day, my parents, Karel and I checked into a largewarehouse with two thousand other people. Only dim lights broke through the complete darkness. I noticed a pretty girl in a yellow sweater in the bunk across from me and she looked at me, too. No one slept much that night. Anticipation and fear filled the air.So started the journey into the worst part of my life.